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EVERYMAN'S LIBRARY
EDITED BY ERNEST RHYS

FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

PINOCCHIO

BY " C. C O L L O D I "

(CARLO LORENZINI)

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New York: E. P. DUTTON & CO.

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

ERINDALE COLLEGE
LIBRARY

Presented by
Mr. Anthony Adamson

MIS7.IS
FAIRY
GOLD.

PROVL^SO

SHAKESPEARE

'/''

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PINOCCHIO
THE STORY
of a PUPPET
^CCOLLODI
(g(® (CARLO
LORENZINI)

LONDON:PUBLISHED
tyJMDENT&SONSlI?

AND IN NEW YORK
BY E- P DUTTON S CO

ERINDALE

COLLEGE

LIBRARY

THE TEMPLE PRESS, PRINTERS, LETCHWORTH

INTRODUCTION

Pinocchio is on the whole the best puppet story ever written,
and it is certainly fitting that Italy should give it to us. No
other country has ever loved puppets and puppet-shows with
so much childish ardour and gaiety. It only remained for the
wit of Signor Lorenzini^ otherwise and better known by his
chosen niclc-name or pen-name of " Collodi/' to write once and
for all the joyous epic of the puppet come to life, and put it into
a new form. No doubt he gained his first notion of Pinocchio
at home, but one wonders if by any chance he had heard of that
English puppet-story. The Enchanted Doll, by Mark Lemon,
which pleased us all mightily a generation ago, just at the
time when he was growing up.

His name of Collodi he took from his native village so-called,
where a tablet has been put up to his memory. He earned the
gratitude of Italian folk, and of the children especially, not only
by writing stories, but by working hard for the cause of educa-
tion in season and out. He edited a paper by which he made
his readers laugh first and think seriously afterwards; he
helped them officially in administering the reforms that were
needed in the schools; he was a pioneer in these grave matters,
as well as a puppet-showman, so to speak. Finally, you will
not sit long at his puppet-show witliout discovering how he
made his Talking Cricket talk sense, and Pinocchio suffer for
his puppetry and wooden-head. We laugh, and then find we
have partly been laughing at ourselves — boys and girls, men
and women — and are the wiser for it.

G. Lorenzini was bom in 1826 and died in 1890.

The following are the chief works of \jo\enz\n\ : —

Un romanzo in vapore da Firenze a Livomo: guida storico-umoristicaj
1856; Gli amici di casa: dramma, 1856, 2nd edition, 1862; I inistori di
Firenze, 1857; La manifattura delle porcellane di Doccia: cenni illiistra-

vii

vlii THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

tivi, i86r; additions to G. Calenzoli's Dialoghi e commedine da recitarsi
negli istituti femminili, 1876; Le Avventure di Pinocchio: storia di un
burattino, 1883; II regalo del capo d'anno: descrizione degli usi e costumi
di alcuni popoli meno conosciuti, 1884; Macchietto, 2nd edition, 1884;
I'Abbaco di Giannettino per le classi elementari, 1885; Minuzzolo, 2nd
libro di lettnra, 19th edition, 1888; La Geografia di Giannettino, 3rd
edition, 1889; Libro di Lezioni per la 3a elementare, 1889; II viaggio per
ritalia di Giannettino, 3 parts, 8th edition of part i, 1895; 5th edition of
part 2, 1894 ; 2nd edition of part 3, 1891 ; Occhi e nasi : ricordi dal vero, 4th
edition, 1891; Divagazioni Critico-umoristiche, raccolte e ordinate da G.
Riguttini, 1892; Note Gaic, raccolte e ordinate da G. Riguttini, 1892; La
Grammatica di Giannettino, 7th edition, 1893; Giannettino, Libro per i
ragazzi, 24th edition, 1897; La Lantema magica di Giannettino: libro
per i Giovanetti, 3rd edition, 1898; Storie allegre: libro per i ragazzi, 7th
edition, 1898; L'azione morale della donna nella civile societa: discorso,

CONTENTS

How it came to pass that Master Cherry the carpenter
found a piece of wood that laughed and cried like
a child ......

Master Cherry makes a present of the piece of wood to
his friend Geppetto, who takes it to make for him-
self a wonderful puppet, that shall know how to
dance, and to fence, and to leap like an acrobat

Geppetto having returned home begins at once to make
a puppet, to which he gives the name of Pinocchio.
The first tricks played by the puppet . . II

The story of Pinocchio and the Talking-cricket, from
which we see that naughty boys cannot endure to
be corrected by those who know more than they
do ..... 17

X THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

Pinocchio is hungry and searches for an egg to make
himself an omelet ; but just at the most interesting
moment the omelet flies out of the window

Pinocchio falls asleep with his feet on the brazier, and

wakes in the morning to find them burnt off . 27

VII

Geppetto returns home, makes the puppet new feet, and
gives him the breakfast that the poor man had
brought for himself . . . . 31

VIII

Geppetto makes Pinocchio new feet, and sells his own

coat to buy him a Spelling-book . • . 37

Pinocchio sells his Spelling-book that he may go and

see a puppet-show . . . 43

The puppets recognise their brother Pinocchio, and
receive him with delight ; but at that moment
their master Fire-eater makes his appearance and
Pinocchio is in danger of coming to a bad end 49

CONTENTS xi

PAGE

Fire-eater sneezes and pardons Pinocchio, who then

Baves the life of his friend Harlequin . . 55

XII

The showman, Fire-eater, makes Pinocchio a present
of five gold pieces to take home to his father,
Geppetto ; but Pinocchio instead allows himself
to be taken in by the Fox and the Cat, and goes
with them . . . . . 61

XIII
The inn of The Red Craw-fish ... 69

XIV

Pinocchio, because he would not heed the good counsels

of the Talking-cricket, falls amongst assassins . 75

The assassins pursue Pinocchio ; and having overtaken

him hang him to a branch of the Big Oak . 81

XVI

The beautiful Child with blue hair has the puppet taken
down : has him put to bed and calls in three
doctors to know if he is alive or dead . . 87

xii THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

XVII

PACK

Pinocchio eats the sugar, but will not take his medicine :
when, however, he sees the grave-diggers, who
have arrived to carry him away, he takes it. He
then tells a lie, and as a punishment his nose grows
longer ...... 93

XVIII

Pinocchio meets again the Fox and the Cat, and goes
with them to bury his money in the Field of
miracles ..... loi

XIX

Pinocchio is robbed of his money, and as a punishment

he is sent to prison for four months . . 109

Liberated from prison, he starts to return to the Fairy's
house ; but on the road he meets with a horrible
serpent, and afterwards he is caught in a trap . 115

XXI

Pinocchio is taken by a peasant, who obliges him to fill
the place of his watch-dog in the poultry-yard

XXII

Pinocchio discovers the robbers, and as a reward for his

fidelity is set at liberty . . . . 127

CONTENTS xiii

XXIII

PAGE

Pinocchio mourns the death of the beautiful Child with
the blue hair. He then meets with a pigeon who
flies with him to the seashore, and there he throws
himself into the water to go to the assistance of his
father Geppetto . . . 133

XXIV

Pinocchio arrives at the island of the " Industrious

Bees," and finds the Fairy again . . 1 41

XXV

Pinocchio promises the Fairy to be good and studious,
for he is quite sick of being a puppet and wishea
to become an exemplary boy . . . 151

XXVI

Pinocchio accompanies his schoolfellows to the seashore

to see the terrible Dog-fish . . . 157

XXVII

Great fight between Pinocchio and his companions.
One of them is wounded, and Pinocchio is arrested
by the gendarmes . . . 163

XXVIII

Pinocchio is in danger of being fried in a frying-pan

iilie a fish . . . . ■ '73

xiv THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

XXIX

PAGS

He returns to the Fairy's house. She promises him
that the following day he shall cease to be a
puppet and shall become a boy. Grand breakfast
of coffee and milk to celebrate this great event . l8i

XXX

Pinocchio, instead of becoming a boy, starts secretly with

his friend Candlewick for the " Land of Boobies " 193

XXXI

After five months' residence in the land of Cocagne,
Pinocchio, to his great astonishment, grows a
beautiful pair of donkey's ears, and he becomes
a little donkey, tail and all . . 203

XXXII

Pinocchio gets donkey's ears ; and then he becomes a

real little donkey and begins to bray . . 213

XXXIII

Pinocchio, having become a genuine little donkey, is
taken to be sold, and is bought by the director of
a company of buffoons to be taught to dance, and to
jump through hoops : but one evening he lames
himself, and then he is bought by a man who
purposes to make a drum of his skin . . 223

CONTENTS XV

XXXIV

PAGE

Pinocchio, having been thrown into the sea, is eaten by
the fish and becomes a puppet as he was before.
Whilst he is swimming away to save his life he is
swallowed by the terrible Dog-fish . . 235

XXXV

Pinocchio finds in tlie body of the Dog-fish . . . whom
does he find ? Read this chapter and you will
know . .... 247

XXXVI

Pinocchio at last ceases to be a puppet and becomes a

boy . . . . . . 255

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

THIS TIME MASTKR CHERRY WAS PETRIFItD

WHEN THE FIGHT WAS OVER .

GEPPETTO RUSHED AFTER HIM . ,

SNATCHED UP A WOODEN HAMMER

THUS SAYING IT SPREAD ITS WINGS

WHILST HE SLEPT HIS FEET TOOK FIRE

" OH ! POOR ME ! I SHALL HAVE TO WALK ON MY KNtE
FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE ! " .

RAN TO LOOK AT HIMSELF IN A CROCK OF WATER

THE BOOK WAS SOLD THERE AND THEN

CARRIED HIM IN TRIUMPH BEFORE THE FOOTLIGHTS

HE SNEEZED AGAIN THREE TIMES

PAGE
1

»9
23

32
39
46

xviii THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

PAGB

THREW HIMSELF AT THE SHOWMAn's FEET . . 59

"don't listen to the ADVICE OF BAD COMPANIONS". 65

HE DREAMT . . . SHRUBS COVERED WITH CLUSTERS OF

GOLD SOVEREIGNS . . . 7I

THE PUPPET MADE A GESTURE WITH HIS HANDS TO

signify: "I HAVE GOT NONE " ... 77

"if I COULD ONLY REACH THAT HOUSE," HE SAID . Si

HIS NOSE HAD INCREASED SO MUCH ... 99

"WHY, HERE IS OUR DEAR PINOCCHIO ! " CRIED THE FOX IO3

"YOU ILL-EDUCATED PARROT " . . . Ill

THE POOR PUPPET HAD BEEN TAKEN IN A TRAP . II7

"YOU SHALL BE MY WATCH-DOG " . . . 1 23

HE BARKED EXACTLY LIKE A DOG. BOW-WOW-WOW . 1 29

STANDING ON A HIGH ROCK, KEPT CALLING TO HIS

FATHER . . . . .139

"AMUSE YOURSELF WITH YAWNING, AND MUCH GOOD

MAY IT DO you" . . . . 1 47

THEY PLAYED HIM ALL SORTS OF TRICKS . . I 58

GAVE HIM A BLOW ON THE HEAD WITH HIS FIST . 1 66

"WHAT SPECIES OF FISH IS THIS?" . . . 1 77

SEIZED THE BUNDLE IN HIS MOUTH . . . 183

THE SNAIL RETURNED CARRYING A SILVER TRAY . 1 9O

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xix

PACK

"what a delightful country! . .
delightful country ! "

and the coachman .

HIS HEAD EMBELLISHED WITH DONKEy's EARS

"now LET THE AUDIENCE SEE HOW GRACEFULLY YOU
CAN JUMP THROUGH THE HOOPS "

THE POOR MAN THOUGHT HE WAS DREAMING

" OH, MY DEAR PAPA ! I HAVE FOUND YOU AT LAST

WHAT A

•

200

•

204

•

214

rLLY YOU

•

232

•

236

LAST ! "

248

This time Master Cherry was petrified.

How it came to pass that Master Cherry the carpenter
found a piece of wood that laughed and cried
like a child.

There was once upon a time . . .

"A king! "my little readers will instantly exclaim.

No, children, you are wrong. There was once
upon a time a piece of wood.

A »

2 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

This wood was not valuable: it was only a common
log like those that are burnt in winter in the stoves
and fireplaces to make a cheerful blaze and warm
the rooms.

I cannot say how it came about, but the fact is,
that one fine day this piece of wood was lying in
the shop of an old carpenter of the name of Master
Antonio. He was, however, called by everybody
Master Cherry, on account of the end of his nose,
which was always as red and polished as a ripe cherry.

No sooner had Master Cherry set eyes on the
piece of wood than his face beamed with delight ;
and, rubbing his hands together with satisfaction,
he said softly to himself:

"This wood has come at the right moment; it
will just do to make the leg of a little table."

Having said this he immediately took a sharp axe
with which to remove the bark and the rough sur-
face. Just, however, as he was going to give the
first stroke he remained with his arm suspended in
the air, for he heard a very small voice saying im-
ploringly, " Do not strike me so hard ! "

Picture to yourselves the astonishment of good
old Master Cherry !

He turned his terrified eyes all round the room to
try and discover where the little voice could possibly
have come from, but he saw nobody ! He looked
under the bench — nobody; he looked into a cupboard

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 3

that was always shut — nobody ; he looked into a
basket of shavings and sawdust — nobody ; he even
opened the door of the shop and gave a glance into
the street — and still nobody. Who, then, could it be ?

"I see how it is," he said, laughing and scratching
his wig; "evidently that little voice was all my
imagination. Let us set to work again."

And taking up the axe he struck a tremendous
blow on the piece of wood.

" Oh ! oh ! you have hurt me ! " cried the same
little voice dolefully.

This time Master Cherry was petrified. His eyes
started out of his head with fright, his mouth \
remained open, and his tongue hung out almost to
the end of his chin, like a mask on a fountain. As
soon as he had recovered the use of his speech, he
began to say, stuttering and trembling with fear:

"But where on earth can that little voice have
come from that said Oh ! oh ! .f* . . . Here there is
certainly not a living soul. Is it possible that this
piece of wood can have learnt to cry and to lament
like a child .'' I cannot believe it. This piece of
wood, here it is; a log for fuel like all the others,
and thrown on the fire it would about suffice to boil
a saucepan of beans. . . . How then ^ Can any-
one be hidden inside it ^ If anyone is hidden
inside, so much the worse for him. I will settle
him at once."

4 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

So saying, he seized the poor piece of wood and
commenced beating it without mercy against the
walls of the room.

Then he stopped to listen if he could hear any
little voice lamenting. He waited two minutes —
nothing ; five minutes — nothing ; ten minutes — still
nothing !

" I see how it is," he then said, forcing himself
to laugh and pushing up his wig ; " evidently the
little voice that said Oh ! oh ! was all my imagina-
tion! Let us set to work again."

But as all the same he was in a great fright, he
tried to sing to give himself a little courage.

Putting the axe aside he took his plane, to plane
and polish the bit of wood ; but whilst he was
running it up and down he heard the same little
voice say, laughing :

"Have done ! you are tickling me all over! "

This time poor Master Cherry fell down as if he
had been struck by lightning. When he at last
opened his eyes he found himself seated on the
floor.

His face was quite changed, even the end of his
nose, instead of being crimson, as it was nearly
always, had become blue from fright.

Master Cherry makes a present of the piece of wood to
his friend Geppetto^ who takes it to ?nake for him-
self a wonderful puppet, that shall know how to
dance, and to fence, and to leap like an acrobat.

At that moment some one knocked at the door.

"Come in," said the carpenter, without having
the strength to rise to his feet.

A lively little old man immediately walked into
the shop. His name was Geppetto, but when the
boys of the neighbourhood wished to put him in a
passion they called him by thenickname of Polendina,i
because his yellow wig greatly resembled a pudding
made of Indian corn.

Geppetto was very fiery. Woe to him who called
him Polendina ! He became furious, and there was
no holding him.

' Polendina. In Italian, pudding of Indian corn.

6 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

"Good day, Master Antonio," said Geppetto;
" what are you doing there on the floor ? "

" I am teaching the alphabet to the ants."

" Much good may that do you."

"What has brought you to me, neighbour
Geppetto ? "

" My legs. But to say the truth, Master Antonio,
I am come to ask a favour of you."

" Here I am, ready to serve you," replied the
carpenter, getting on to his knees.

"This morning an idea came into my head."

"Let us hear it."

" I thought I would make a beautiful wooden pup-
pet ; but a wonderful puppet that should know how to
dance, to fence, and to leap like an acrobat. With this
puppet I would travel about the world to earn a piece
of bread and a glassof wine. What do you think of it.?"

" Bravo, Polendina ! " exclaimed the same little
voice, and it was impossible to say where it came from.

Hearing himself called Polendina Geppetto became
as red as a turkey-cock from rage, and turning to
the carpenter he said in a fury :

" Why do you insult me ? "

" Who insults you ? "

"You called me Polendina ! . . ."

" It was not I ! "

" Would you have it, then, that it was I? It was
you, I say! "

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 7

"No!"
"Yes!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
And becoming more and more angry, from words

When the fight was over,

they came to blows, and flying at each other they
bit, and fought, and scratched manfully.

When the fight was over Master Antonio was in
possession of Geppetto's yellow wig, and Geppetto
discovered that the grey wig belonging to the
carpenter had remained between his teeth.

"Give me back my wig," screamed Master Antonio.

8 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

" And you, return me mine, and let us make friends."

The two old men having each recovered his own
wig shook hands, and swore that they would remain
friends to the end of their lives.

" Well then, neighbour Geppetto," said the
carpenter, to prove that peace was made, " what is
the favour that you wish of me ? "

" I want a little wood to make my puppet ; will
you give me some ? "

Master Antonio was delighted, and he immedi-
ately went to the bench and fetched the piece of
wood that had caused him so much fear. But just
as he was going to give it to his friend the piece of
wood gave a shake, and wriggling violently out of
his hands struck with all its force against the dried-
up shins of poor Geppetto.

" Ah ! is that the courteous way in which you
make your presents, Master Antonio ? You have
almost lamed me ! . . ."

" I swear to you that it was not I ! . . ."

"Then you would have it that it was I .^ . . ."

" The wood is entirely to blame ! . . ."

"I know that it was the wood; but it was you
that hit my legs with it ! . . ."

"I did not hit you with it ! . . ."

"Liar!"

"Geppetto, don't insult me or I will call you
Polendina! . . ."

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 9

" Ass ! "

"Polendina!"

"Donkey! "

"Polendina! "

" Baboon I "

" Polendina ! "

On hearing himself called Polendina for the
third time Geppetto, blind with rage, fell upon the
carpenter and they fought desperately.

When the battle was over, Master Antonio had
two more scratches on his nose, and his adversary
had two buttons too little on his waistcoat. Their
accounts being thus squared they shook hands, and
swore to remain good friends for the rest of their
lives.

Geppetto carried off his fine piece of wood and,
thanking Master Antonio, returned limping to his
house.

Ill

Geppetto having returned home begins at once to
make a puppet^ to which he gives the name
of Pinocchio. The first tricks played by the
puppet.

Geppetto lived in a small ground-floor room that
was only lighted from the staircase. The furniture
could not have been simpler, — a bad chair, a poor
bed, and a broken-down table. At the end of the
room there was a fireplace with a lighted fire ; but
the fire was painted, and by the fire was a painted
saucepan that was boiling cheerfully, and sending out
a cloud of smoke that looked exactly like real smoke.

As soon as he reached home Geppetto took his
tools and set to work to cut out and model his puppet.

"What name shall I give him."*" he said to
himself; "I think I will call him Pinocchio. It is
a name that will bring him luck. I once knew a
whole family so called. There was Pinocchio the
father, Pinocchia the mother, and Pinocchi the
children, and all of them did well. The richest of
them was a beggar."

12 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

Having found a name for his puppet he began to
work in good earnest, and he first made his hair,
then his forehead, and then his eyes.

The eyes being finished, imagine his astonishment
when he peceived that they moved and looked fixedly
at him.

Geppetto seeing himself stared at by those two
wooden eyes took it almost in bad part, and said in
an angry voice :

"Wicked wooden eyes, why do you look at me?"

No one answered.

He then proceeded to carve the nose ; but no
sooner had he made it than it began to grow. And
it grew, and grew, and grew, until in a few minutes
it had become an immense nose that seemed as if it
would never end.

Poor Geppetto tired himself out with cutting it off;
but the more he cut and shortened it, the longer did
that impertinent nose become !

The mouth was not even completed when it began
to laugh and deride him.

" Stop laughing ! " said Geppetto, provoked ; but
he might as well have spoken to the wall.

" Stop laughing, I say ! " he roared in a threatening
tone.

The mouth then ceased laughing, but put out its
tongue as far as it would go.

Geppetto, not to spoil his handiwork, pretended

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 13

not to see, and continued his labours. After the
mouth he fashioned the chin, then the throat, then
the shoulders, the stomach, the arms and the hands.

The hands were scarcely finished when Geppetto
felt his wig snatched from his head. He turned
round, and what did he see ^ He saw his yellow
wig in the puppet's hand.

" Pinocchio I . . . Give me back my wig
instantly! "

But Pinocchio, instead of returning it, put it on
his own head, and was in consequence nearly
smothered.

Geppetto at this insolent and derisive behaviour
felt sadder and more melancholy than he had ever
been in his life before ; and turning to Pinocchio he
said to him :

"You young rascal ! You are not yet completed,
and you are already beginning to show want of
respect to your father ! That is bad, ray boy, very
bad ! "

And he dried a tear.

The legs and the feet remained to be done.

When Geppetto had finished the feet he received
a kick on the point of his nose.

"I deserve it!" he said to himself ; "I should
have thought of it sooner ! Now it is too late I "

He then took the puppet under the arms and
placed him on the floor to teach him to walk.

14 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

Pinocchio's legs were stiff and he could not move,
but Geppetto led him by the hand and showed him
how to put one foot before the other.

When his legs became flexible Pinocchio began
to walk by himself and to run about the room ; until,

Geppetto rushed after him.

having gone out of the house door, he jumped into
the street and escaped.

Poor Geppetto rushed after him but was not able
to overtake him, for that rascal Pinocchio leapt in
front of him like a hare, and knocking his wooden
feet together against the pavement made as much
clatter as twenty pairs of peasants' clogs.

" Stop him ! stop him ! " shouted Geppetto ; but
the people in the street, seeing a wooden puppet
running like a racehorse, stood still in astonishment

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 15

to look at it, and laughed, and laughed, and laughed,
until it beats description.

At last, as good luck would have it, a carabineer
arrived who, hearing the uproar, imagined that a
colt had escaped from his master. Planting himself
courageously with his legs apart in the middle of
the road, he waited with the determined purpose of
stopping him, and thus preventing the chance of
worse disasters.

When Pinocchio, still at some distance, saw
the carabineer barricading the whole street, he
endeavoured to take him by surprise and to pass
between his legs. But he failed signally.

The carabineer without disturbing himself in the
least caught him cleverly by the nose — it was an
immense nose of ridiculous proportions that seemed
made on purpose to be laid hold of by carabineers
— and consigned him to Geppetto. Wishing to
punish him, Geppetto intended to pull his ears at
once. But imagine his feelings when he could not
succeed in finding them. And do you know the
reason ? It was that, in his hurry to model him, he
had forgotten to make them.

He then took him by the collar, and as he was
leading him away he said to him, shaking his head
threateningly :

"We will go home at once, and as soon as we
arrive we will regulate our accounts, never doubt it."

1 6 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

At this announcement Pinocchio threw himself on
the ground and would not take another step. In
the meanwhile a crowd of idlers and inquisitive
people began to assemble and to make a ring round
them.

Some of them said one thing, some another.

" Poor puppet ! " said several, " he is right not to
wish to return home ! Who knows how Geppetto,
that bad old man, will beat him ! . . . "

And the others added maliciously :

" Geppetto seems a good man ! but with boys he
is a regular tyrant ! If that poor puppet is left in
his hands he is quite capable of tearing him in
pieces! . . ."

It ended in so much being said and done that the
carabineer at last set Pinocchio at liberty and con-
ducted Geppetto to prison. The poor man, not
being ready with words to defend himself, cried like
a calf, and as he was being led away to prison
sobbed out :

"Wretched boy! And to think how I have
laboured to make him a well-conducted puppet !
But it serves me right! I should have thought of
it sooner! . . ."

What happened afterwards is a story that really
is past all belief, but I will relate it to you in the
following chapters.

The story of Pinocchio and the Talking-cricket^ from
which we see that na light y boys cannot endure to
be corrected by those who know more than they do.

Well then, children, I must tell you that whilst
poor Geppetto was being taken to prison for no fault
of his, that imp Pinocchio, finding himself free from
the clutches of the carabineer, ran off as fast as his
legs could carry him. That he might reach home
the quicker he rushed across the fields, and in his
mad hurry he jumped high banks, thorn hedges, and
ditches full of water, exactly as a kid or a leveret
would have done if pursued by hunters.

Having arrived at the house he found the street
door ajar. He pushed it open, went in, and having
secured the latch threw himself seated on the
ground and gave a great sigh of satisfaction.

But his satisfaction did not last long, for he
heard some one in the room who was saying :

" Cri-cri-cri ! "

" Who calls me ? " said Pinocchio in a fright.

*' It is I ! "

B S7

1 8 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

Pinocchio turned round and saw a big cricket
crawling slowly up the wall.

" Tell me, Cricket, who may you be ? "

"I am the Talking-cricket, and I have lived in
this room a hundred years and more."

" Now, however, this room is mine," said the
puppet, "and if you would do me a pleasure go
away at once, without even turning round."

" I will not go," answered the Cricket, " until
I have told you a great truth."

"Tell it me, then, and be quick about it."

"Woe to those boys who rebel against their
parents, and run away capriciously from home.
They will never come to any good in the world,
and sooner or later they will repent bitterly."

"Sing away. Cricket, as you please, and as long
as you please. For me, I have made up my mind
to run away to-morrow at daybreak, because if
I remain I shall not escape the fate of all other
boys ; I shall be sent to school and shall be made to
study either by love or by force. To tell you in
confidence, I have no wish to learn ; it is much
more amusing to run after butterflies, or to climb
trees and to take the young birds out of their
nests."

" Poor little goose I But do you not know that
in that way you will grow up a perfect donkey,
and that every one will make game of you ? "

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 19

" Hold your tongue, you wicked ill-omened
croaker ! " shouted Pinocchio.

But the Cricket, who was patient and philosophical,

Snatclicd up a wooden h.imnicr.

instead of becoming angry at this impertinence,
continued in the same tone :

"But if you do not wish to go to school why
not at least learn a trade, if only to enable you to
earn honestly a piece of bread ! "

20 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

"Do you want me to tell you?" replied Pinocchio,
who was beginning to lose patience. " Amongst
all the trades in the world there is only one that
really takes my fancy."

"And that trade — what is it .? "

"It is to eat, drink, sleep, and amuse myself,
and to lead a vagabond life from morning to
night."

"As a rule," said the Talking-cricket with the
same composure, "all those who follow that trade
end almost always either in a hospital or in prison."

" Take care, you wicked ill-omened croaker ! . . .
Woe to you if I fly into a passion ! . . ."

"Poor Pinocchio! I really pity you ! . . ."

" Why do you pity me ^ "

" Because you are a puppet and, what is worse,
because you have a wooden head."

At these last words Pinocchio jumped up in a
rage, and snatching a wooden hammer from the
bench he threw it at the Talking-cricket.

Perhaps he never meant to hit him ; but un-
fortunately it struck him exactly on the head, so
that the poor Cricket had scarcely breath to cry
cri-cri-cri, and then he remained dried up and
flattened against the wall.

Pinoccbio is hungry and searches for an egg to inake
himself an omelet ; but just at the most interesting
moment the omelet flies out of the window.

Night was coming on, and Pinocchio, remembering
thit he had eaten nothing all day, began to feel
a gnawing in his stomach that very much resembled
appetite.

But appetite with boys travels quickly, and in
fact after a few minutes his appetite had become
hunger, and in no time his hunger became ravenous
— a hunger that was really quite insupportable.

Poor Pinocchio ran quickly to the fire-place where
a saucepan was boiling, and was going to take oiF
the lid to see what was in it, but the saucepan was
only painted on the wall. You can imagine his
feelings. His nose, which was already long, became
longer by at least three fingers.

He then began to run about the room, searching
in the drawers and in every imaginable place, in

22 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

hopes of finding a bit of bread. If it was only a
bit of dry bread, a crust, a bone left by a dog, a
little mouldy pudding of Indian corn, a fish bone,
a cherry stone — in fact anything that he could
gnaw. But he could find nothing, nothing at all,
absolutely nothing.

And in the meanwhile his hunger grew and
grew; and poor Pinocchio had no other relief than
yawning, and his yawns were so tremendous that
sometimes his mouth almost reached his ears. And
after he had yawned he spluttered, and felt as if he
was going to faint.

Then he began to cry desperately, and he said :

" The Talking-cricket was right. I did wrong
to rebel against my papa and to run away from
home. ... If my papa was here I should not now
be dying of yawning ! Oh ! what a dreadful illness
hunger is ! "

Just then he thought he saw something in the
dust-heap — something round and white that looked
like a hen's egg. To give a spring and seize hold of
it was the affair of a moment. It was indeed an egg.

Pinocchio's joy beats description ; it can only
be imagined. Almost believing it must be a
dream he kept turning the egg over in his hands,
feeling it and kissing it. And as he kissed it
he said :

"And now, how shall I cook it? Shall I make

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 23

an omelet? . . . No, it would be better to cook it

Thus saying it spread its wings.

, . . Or would it not be more savoury
to fry it in the frying-pan ? Or shall I simply boil

m a saucer

24 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

It ? No, the quickest way of all is to cook it in a
saucer : I am in such a hurry to eat it ! "

Without loss of time he placed an earthenware
saucer on a brazier full of red-hot embers. Into the
saucer instead of oil or butter he poured a little
water ; and when the water began to smoke, tac ! . . .
he broke the egg-shell over it that the contents
might drop in. But instead of the white and the
yolk a little chicken popped out very gay and
polite. Making a beautiful courtesy it said to
him :

" A thousand thanks. Master Pinocchio, for
saving me the trouble of breaking the shell. Adieu
until we meet again. Keep well, and my best
compliments to all at home ! "

Thus saying it spread its wings, darted through
the open window, and flying away was lost to
sight.

The poor puppet stood as if he had been
bewitched, with his eyes fixed, his mouth open,
and the egg-shell in his hand. Recovering, how-
ever, from his first stupefaction, he began to cry and
scream, and to stamp his feet on the floor in despera-
tion, and amidst his sobs he said :

" Ah ! indeed the Talking-cricket was right. If
I had not run away from home, and if my papa was
here, I should not now be dying of hunger ! Oh !
what a dreadful illness hunger is ! , . ."

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 25

And as his stomach cried out more than ever and
he did not know how to quiet it, he thought he
would leave the house and make an excursion in the
neighbourhood in hopes of finding some charitable
person who would give him a piece of bread.

Pinocchio falls asleep with his feet on the brazier^ and
luakes in the morning to find them burnt off.

It was a wild and stormy winter's night. The
thunder was tremendous and the hghtning so vivid
that the sky seemed on fire. A bitter blusterous
wind whistled angrily, and raising clouds of dust
swept over the country, causing the trees to creak
and groan as it passed.

Pinocchio had a great fear of thunder, but hunger
was stronger than fear. He therefore closed the
house door and made a rush for the village, which he
reached in a hundred bounds, with his tongue hanging
out and panting for breath, like a dog after game.

But he found it all dark and deserted. The
shops were closed, the windows shut, and there was
not so much as a dog in the street. It seemed the
land of the dead.

Pinocchio, urged by desperation and hunger, laid
hold of the bell of a house and began to peal it
with all his might, saying to himself:

28 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

"That will bring somebody."

And so it did. A little old man appeared at a
window with a nightcap on his head, and called to
him angrily :

" What do you want at such an hour ? "

( m yyi

Whilst he slept his feet took fire.

" Would you be kind enough to give me a little
bread .? "

"Wait there, I will be back directly," said the
little old man, thinking he had to do with one of
those rascally boys who amuse themselves at night
by ringing the house bells to rouse respectable
people who are sleeping quietly.

After half a minute the window was again opened,
and the voice of the same httle old man shouted to
Pinocchio :

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 29

"Come underneath and hold out your cap."

Pinocchio pulled off his cap; but just as he held
it out an enormous basin of water was poured down
on him, watering him from head to foot as if he had
been a pot of dried-up geraniums.

He returned home like a wet chicken quite
exhausted with fatigue and hunger ; and having no
longer strength to stand, he sat down and rested his
damp and muddy feet on a brazier full of burning
embers.

And then he fell asleep; and whilst he slept his
feet, which were wooden, took fire, and little by
little they burnt away and became cinders.

Pinocchio continued to sleep and to snore as if
his feet belonged to some one else. At last about
daybreak he awoke because some one was knocking
at the door.

" Who is there ?" he asked, yawning and rubbing
his eyes.

" It is I ! " answered a voice.

And the voice was Geppetto's voice.

VII

Geppetto returns home, makes the puppet new feet,
and gives him the breakfast that the poor man
had brought for hiimef.

Poor Pinocchio, whose eyes were still half shut
from sleep, had not as yet discovered that his feet
were burnt off. The moment, therefore, that he
heard his father's voice he slipped off his stool to
run and open the door ; but after stumbling two
or three times he fell his whole length on the
floor.

And the noise he made in falling was as if a sack
of wooden ladles had been thrown from a fifth
story.

" Open the door ! " shouted Geppetto from the
street.

" Dear papa, I cannot," answered the puppet,
crying and rolling about on the ground.

" Why cannot you .'' "

" Because my feet have been eaten."

''And who has eaten your feet.^"'

" The cat," said Pinocchio, seeing the cat, who

3«

32 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

was amusing herself by making some shavings dance
with her forepaws.

" Open the door, I tell you ! " repeated Geppetto.
"If you don't, when I get into the house you shall
have the cat from me ! "

" Oh ! Poor me ! I shall have to walk on my knees for
the rest of my life ! "

" I cannot stand up, believe me. Oh, poor me !
poor me ! I shall have to walk on my knees for the
rest of my life ! . . ."

Geppetto, believing that all this lamentation was
only another of the puppet's tricks, thought of a

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO :^2

means of putting an end to it, and climbing up the
wall he got in at the window.

He was very angry, and at first he did nothing but
scold ; but when he saw his Pinocchio lying on the
ground and really without feet he was quite over-
come. He took him in his arms and began to kiss
and caress him and to say a thousand endearing
things to him, and as the big tears ran down his
cheeks, he said, sobbing :

"My little Pinocchio! how did you manage to
burn your feet ? "

"I don't know, papa, but believe me it has been
an infernal night that I shall remember as long as I
live. It thundered and lightened, and I was very
hungry, and then the Talking-cricket said to me :
' It serves you right ; you have been wicked and
you deserve it,' and I said to him : ' Take care,
Cricket!' , . . and he said: 'You are a puppet
and you have a wooden head,' and I threw the
handle of a hammer at him, and he died, but the
fault was his, for I didn't wish to kill him, and the
proof of it is that I put an earthenware saucer on a
brazier of burning embers, but a chicken flew out
and said: 'Adieu until we meet again, and many
compliments to all at home ' : and I got still more
hungry, for which reason that little old man in a
nightcap opening the window said to me : ' Come
underneath and hold out your hat,' and poured a
c

34 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

basinful of water on my head, because asking for a
little bread isn't a disgrace, is it? and I returned
home at once, and because I was always very hungry
I put my feet on the brazier to dry them, and then
you returned, and I found they were burnt off, and
I am always hungry, but I have no longer any feet !
Ih! Ih! Ih! Ih! . . ." And poor Pinocchio began
to cry and to roar so loudly that he was heard five
miles off.

Geppetto, who from all this jumbled account had
only understood one thing, which was that the
puppet was dying of hunger, drew from his pocket
three pears, and giving them to him said:

" These three pears were intended for my break-
fast ; but I will give them to you willingly. Eat
them, and I hope they will do you good."

" If you wish me to eat them, be kind enough to
peel them for me."

"Peel them.f"' said Geppetto, astonished. "I
should never have thought, my boy, that you were
so dainty and fastidious. That is bad ! In this
world we should accustom ourselves from childhood
to like and to eat everything, for there is no saying
to what we may be brought. There are so many
chances ! . . ."

"You are no doubt right," interrupted Pinocchio,
" but I will never eat fruit that has not been peeled.
I cannot bear rind."

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO ss

So that good Geppetto fetched a knife, and arm-
ing himself with patience peeled the three pears,
and put the rind on a corner of the table.

Having eaten the first pear in two mouthfuls,
Pinocchio was about to throw away the core ; but
Geppetto caught hold of his arm and said to him :

" Do not throw it away ; in this world everything
may be of use."

" But core I am determined I will not eat," shouted
the puppet, turning upon him like a viper.

"Who knows! there are so many chances ! . . ."
repeated Geppetto without losing his temper.

And so the three cores, instead of being thrown
out of the window, were placed on the corner of
the table together with the three rinds.

Having eaten, or rather having devoured the three
pears, Pinocchio yawned tremendously, and then said
in a fretful tone:

" I am as hungry as ever ! "

"But, my boy, I have nothing more to give you ! "

"Nothing, really nothing?"

" I have only the rind and the cores of the
three pears."

" One must have patience ! " said Pinocchio ; if
there is nothing else I will eat a rind."

And he began to chew it. At first he made a
wry face ; but then one after another he quickly
disposed of the rinds : and after the rinds even the

^6 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCGHIO

cores, and when he had eaten up everything he
clapped his hands on his sides in his satisfaction,
and said joyfully :

" Ah ! now I feel comfortable."

"You see now," observed Geppetto, "that I
was right when I said to you that it did not do
to accustom ourselves to be too particular or too
dainty in our tastes. We can never know, my
dear boy, what may happen to us. There are
so many chances ! . . ."

VIII

Geppetto makes Finocchio neiv feet^ and sells his own
coat to buy him a Spelling-book.

No sooner had the puppet appeased his hunger
than he began to cry and to grumble because he
wanted a pair of new feet.

But Geppetto, to punish him for his naughtiness,
allowed him to cry and to despair for half the day.
He then said to him :

"Why should I make you new feet? To enable
you, perhaps, to escape again from home ? "

"I promise you," said the puppet, sobbing, "that
for the future I will be good."

"All boys," replied Geppetto, "when they are
bent upon obtaining something, say the same thing."

" I promise you that I will go to school, and that
I will study and earn a good character."

"All boys, when they are bent on obtaining
something, repeat the same story."

"But I am not like other boys! I am better
than all of them and I always speak the truth. I
promise you, papa, that I will learn a trade, and

38 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

that I will be the consolation and the staff of your
old age."

Geppetto, although he put on a severe face, had
his eyes full of tears and his heart big with sorrow
at seeing his poor Pinocchio in such a pitiable
state. He did not say another word, but taking his
tools and two small pieces of well-seasoned wood he
set to work with great diligence.

In less than an hour the feet were finished : two
little feet — swift, well-knit, and nervous. They
might have been modelled by an artist of genius.

Geppetto then said to the puppet :

" Shut your eyes and go to sleep ! "

And Pinocchio shut his eyes and pretended to be
asleep.

And whilst he pretended to sleep, Geppetto, with
a little glue which he had melted in an egg-shell,
fastened his feet in their place, and it was so well
done that not even a trace could be seen of where
they were joined.

No sooner had the puppet discovered that he had
feet than he jumped down from the table on which
he was lying, and began to spring and to cut a
thousand capers about the room, as if he had gone
mad with the greatness of his delight.

"To reward you for what you have done for
me," said Pinocchio to his father, "I will go to
school at once."

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 39

" Good boy."

" But to go to school I shall want some clothes."

Geppetto, who was poor, and who had not so

Ran to look at himself in a crock of water.

much as a farthing in his pocket, then made him a

little dress of flowered paper, a pair of shoes from

the bark of a tree, and a cap of the crumb of bread.

Pinocchio ran immediately to look at himself in a

40 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

crock of water, and he was so pleased with his
appearance that he said, strutting about Hke a
peacock :

"I look quite like a gentleman! "

" Yes indeed," answered Geppetto, " for bear in
mind that it is not fine clothes that make the
gentleman, but rather clean clothes."

" By the bye," added the puppet, " to go to
school I am still in want — indeed I am without the
best thing, and the most important."

"And what is it?"

"I have no Spelling-book."

" You are right : but what shall we do to get
one r

" It is quite easy. We have only to go to the
bookseller's and buy it."

" And the money ? "

"I have got none."

" No more have I," added the good old man very
sadly.

And Pinocchio, although he was a very merry
boy, became sad also ; because poverty, when it is
real poverty, is understood by everybody — even by
boys.

" Well, patience ! " exclaimed Geppetto, all at
once rising to his feet, and putting on his old fustian
coat, all patched and darned, he ran out of the
house.

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 41

He returned shortly, holding in his hand a
Spelling-book for Pinocchio, but the old coat was
gone. The poor man was in his shirt sleeves, and
out of doors it was snowing.

" And the coat, papa ? "

"I have sold it."

"Why did you sell it?"

"Because I found it too hot."

Pinocchio understood this answer in an instant,
and unable to restrain the impulse of his good heart
he sprang up, and throwing his arms round Geppetto's
neck, he began kissing him again and again.

Pinocch'w sells his Spelling-book that he may go
and see a puppet-show.

As soon as it had done snowing Pinocchio set out
for school with his fine SpeHing-book under his arm.
As he went along he began to imagine a thousand
things in his little brain, and to build a thousand
castles in the air, one more beautiful than the other.

And talking to himself he said:

" To-day at school I will learn to read at once ;
then to-morrow I will begin to write, and the day-
after to-morrow to cipher. Then with my acquire-
ments I will earn a great deal of money, and with
the first money I have in my pocket I will im-
mediately buy for my papa a beautiful new cloth
coat. But what am I saying .? Cloth, indeed ! It
shall be all made of gold and silver, and it shall have
diamond buttons. That poor man really deserves
it ; for to buy me books and have me taught he
has remained in his shirt sleeves. . . . And in this

44 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

cold ! It is only fathers who are capable of such
sacrifices ! . . ."

Whilst he was saying this with great emotion he
thought that he heard music in the distance that
sounded like fifes and the beating of a big drum :
fi-fi-fi, fi-fi-fi, zum, zum, zum, zum.

He stopped and listened. The sounds came
from the end of a cross street that took to a little
village on the seashore.

"What can that music be? What a pity that
I have to go to school, or else . . ."

And he remained irresolute. It was, however,
necessary to come to a decision. Should he go
to school ? or should he go after the fifes ?

" To-day I will go and hear the fifes, and to-
morrow I will go to school," finally decided the
young scapegrace, shrugging his shoulders.

The more he ran the nearer came the sounds of
the fifes and the beating of the big drum : fi-fi-fi,
zum, zum, zum, zum.

At last he found himself in the middle of a
square quite full of people, who were all crowding
round a building made of wood and canvas, and
painted a thousand colours.

"What is that building?" asked Pinocchio,
turning to a little boy who belonged to the place.

" Read the placard — it is all written — and then
you will know."

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 45

"1 would read it willingly, but it so happens that
to-day I don't know how to read."

" Bravo, blockhead ! Then 1 will read it to you.
The writing on that placard in those letters red
as fire is :

"GREAT PUPPET THEATRE."

" Has the play begun long ? "

" It is beginning now."

" How much does it cost to go in? "

"Twopence."

Pinocchio, who was in a fever of curiosity,
lost all control of himself, and without any
shame he said to the little boy to whom he was

talking:

" Would you lend me twopence until to-morrow ? "

*' I would lend them to you willingly," said the
other, taking him off, "but it so happens that
to-day I cannot give them to you."

"I will sell you my jacket for twopence," the
puppet then said to him.

"What do you think that I could do with a
jacket of flowered paper? If there was rain and it
got wet, it would be impossible to get it off my
back."

" Will you buy my shoes ? "

"They would only be of use to light the fire."

" How much will you give me for my cap ? "

46 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

"That would be a wonderful acquisition indeed!
A cap of bread crumb ! There would be a risk

The book was sold there and then.

of the mice coming to eat it whilst it was on my
head."

Pinocchio was on thorns. He was on the point

of making another offer, but he had not the

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 47

courage. He hesitated, felt irresolute and remorse-
ful. At last he said :

"Will you give me twopence for this new
Spelling-book ? "

"I am a boy and I don't buy from boys," replied
his little interlocutor, who had much more sense
than he had.

"I will buy the Spelling-book for twopence,'^
called out a hawker of old clothes, who had been
listening to the conversation.

And the book was sold there and then. And to
think that poor Geppetto had remained at home
trembling with cold in his shirt sleeves, that he
might buy his son a Spelling-book !

The puppets recognise their brother Pinocchio, and
receive him with delight ; but at that moment
their master Fire-eater makes his appearance and
Pinocchio is in danger of coming to a bad end.

When Pinocchio came into the little puppet
theatre, an incident occurred that almost produced
a revolution.

I must tell you that the curtain was drawn up,
and the play had already begun.

On the stage Harlequin and Punchinello were as
usual quarrelling with each other, and threatening
every moment to come to blows.

The audience, all attention, laughed till they
were ill as they listened to the bickerings of these
two puppets, who gesticulated and abused each
other so naturally that they might have been two
reasonable beings, and two persons of the world.

50 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

All at once Harlequin stopped short, and turning
to the public he pointed with his hand to some one
far down in the pit, and exclaimed in a dramatic
tone :

" Gods of the firmament ! do I dream, or am I
awake? But surely that is Pinocchio! . . ."

"It is indeed Pinocchio! " cried Punchinello.

"It is indeed himself!" screamed Miss Rose,
peeping from behind the scenes.

" It is Pinocchio ! it is Pinocchio ! " shouted all
the puppets in chorus, leaping from all sides on to
the stage. " It is Pinocchio ! It is our brother
Pinocchio ! Long live Pinocchio ! . . ."

" Pinocchio, come up here to me," cried Harlequin,
" and throw yourself into the arms of your wooden
brothers ! "

At this affectionate invitation Pinocchio made
a leap from the end of the pit into the reserved
seats ; another leap landed him on the head of
the leader of the orchestra, and he then sprang
upon the stage.

The embraces, the hugs, the friendly pinches,
and the demonstrations of warm brotherly affection
that Pinocchio received from the excited crowd of
actors and actresses of the puppet dramatic company
beat description.

The sight was doubtless a moving one, but the
public in the pit, finding that the play was stopped,

Carried him in triumph before the footh'ghts.

52 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

became impatient, and began to shout : " We will
have the play — go on with the play! "

It was all breath thrown away. The puppets,
instead of continuing the recital, redoubled their
noise and outcries, and putting Pinocchio on their
shoulders they carried him in triumph before the
footlights.

At that moment out came the showman. He
was very big, and so ugly that the sight of him
was enough to frighten anyone. His beard was as
black as ink, and so long that it reached from his
chin to the ground. I need only say that he trod
upon it when he walked. His mouth was as big
as an oven, and his eyes were like two lanterns
of red glass with lights burning inside them. He
carried a large whip made of snakes and foxes' tails
twisted together, which he cracked constantly.

At his unexpected appearance there was a
profound silence : no one dared to breathe. A fly
might have been heard in the stillness. The poor
puppets of both sexes trembled like so many
leaves.

" Why have you come to raise a disturbance in
my theatre ? " asked the showman of Pinocchio, in
the gruff voice of a hob-goblin suffering from a
severe cold in the head.

" Believe me, honoured sir, that it was not ray
fault! . . ."

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO $3

"That is enough! To-night we will settle our
accounts."

As soon as the play was over the showman went
into the kitchen where a fine sheep, preparing for

his supper, was turning slowly on the spit in front
of the fire. As there was not enough wood to
finish roasting and browning it, he called Harlequin
and Punchinello, and said to them :

"Bring that puppet here: you will find him
hanging on a nail. It seems to me that he is made

54 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

of very dry wood, and I am sure that if he was
thrown on the fire he would make a beautiful
blaze for the roast."

At first Harlequin and Punchinello hesitated ; but,
appalled by a severe glance from their master, they
obeyed. In a short time they returned to the
kitchen carrying poor Pinocchio, who was wriggling
like an eel taken out of water, and screaming
desperately : " Papa ! papa ! save me ! I will not
die, I will not die ! . . ."

Fire-eater s?ieezes and pardons Pinocchio^ who then
saves the life of his friend Harlequin.

The showman Fire-eater — for that was his name —
looked, I must say, a terrible man, especially with
his black beard that covered his chest and legs
like an apron. On the whole, however, he had
not a bad heart. In proof of this, when he saw
poor Pinocchio brought before him, struggling and
screaming "I will not die, I will not die I "' he was
quite moved and felt very sorry for him. He tried
to hold out, but after a little he could stand it no
longer and he sneezed violently. When he heard
the sneeze, Harlequin, who up to that moment had
been in the deepest afiliction, and bowed down like
a weeping willow, became quite cheerful, and
leaning towards Pinocchio he whispered to him
softly :

" Good news, brother. The showman has sneezed,

S6 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

and that is a sign that he pities you, and consequently
you are saved."

For you must know that whilst most men, when
they feel compassion for somebody, either weep or
at least pretend to dry their eyes, Fire-eater, on the
contrary, whenever he was really overcome, had the
habit of sneezing.

After he had sneezed, the showman, still acting
the ruffian, shouted to Pinocchio :

" Have done crying! Your lamentations have given
me a pain in my stomach. ... I feel a spasm, that
almost . . . Etci ! etci ! " and he sneezed again twice.

"Bless you!" said Pinocchio.

"Thank you! And your papa and your mamma,
are they still alive ^ " asked Fire-eater.

" Papa, yes ; my mamma I have never known."

" Who can say what a sorrow it would be for
your poor old father if I was to have you thrown
amongst those burning coals ! Poor old man ! I
compassionate him ! . . . Etci ! etci ! etci ! " and he
sneezed again three times.

"Bless you! " said Pinocchio.

" Thank you ! All the same, some compassion is
due to me, for as you see I have no more wood with
which to finish roasting my mutton, and to tell you
the truth, under the circumstances you would have
been of great use to me ! However, I have had pity
on you, so I must have patience. Instead of you I

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 57

will burn under the spit one of the puppets belonging
to my company. Ho there, gendarmes ! "

At this call two wooden gendarmes immediately
appeared. They were very long and very thin, and

He sneezed again three times.

had on cocked hats, and held unsheathed swords in

their hands.

The showman said to them in a hoarse voice :

" Take Harlequin, bind him securely, and then

58 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

throw him on the fire to burn. I am determined
that my mutton shall be well roasted."

Only imagine that poor Harlequin! His terror
was so great that his legs bent under him, and he
fell with his face on the ground.

At this agonising sight Pinocchio, weeping bitterly,
threw himself at the showman's feet, and bathing
his long beard with his tears he began to say in a
supplicating voice :

"Have pity, Sir Fire-eater! ..."

"Here there are no sirs," the showman answered
severely.

''Have pity, Sir Knight! ..."

" Here there are no knights ! "

" Have pity, Commander ! . . ."

"Here there are no commanders! "

"Have pity, Excellence! ..."

Upon hearing himself called Excellence the show-
man began to smile, and became at once kinder and
more tractable. Turning to Pinocchio he asked :

" Well, what do you want from me ? "

" 1 implore you to pardon poor Harlequin."

" For him there can be no pardon. As I have
spared you he must be put on the fire, for I am
determined that my mutton shall be well roasted."

" In that case," cried Pinocchio proudly, rising
and throwing away his cap of bread crumb — "in
that case I know my duty. Come on, gendarmes !

Threw himself at the showman's feet.

6o THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

Bind me and throw me amongst the flames. No, it
is not just that poor Harlequin, my true friend,
should die for me I ..."

These words, pronounced in a loud heroic voice,
made all the puppets who were present cry. Even
the gendarmes, although they were made of wood,
wept like two newly-born lambs.

Fire-eater at first remained as hard and unmoved
as ice, but httle by little he began to melt and to
sneeze. And having sneezed four or five times, he
opened his arms affectionately, and said to Pinocchio:

" You are a good, brave boy ! Come here and
give me a kiss."

Pinocchio ran at once, and climbing like a squirrel
up the showman's beard he deposited a hearty kiss
on the point of his nose.

" Then the pardon is granted ? " asked poor
Harlequin in a faint voice that was scarcely audible.

"The pardon is granted!" answered Fire-eater;
he then added, sighing and shaking his head :

" I must have patience I To-night I shall have to
resign myself to eat the mutton half raw; but another
time, woe to him who chances ! . . ."

At the news of the pardon the puppets all ran
to the stage, and having lighted the lamps and
chandeliers as if for a full-dress performance, they
began to leap and to dance merrily. At dawn they
were still dancing.

XII

The showman^ Fire-cater^ makes Pinocchio a present
of Jive gold pieces to take home to his father^
Gcppetto ; but Pinocchio instead allows himself
to be taken in by the Fox and the Cat^ and goes
with them.

The following day Fire-eater called Pinocchio on
one side and asked him:

" What is your father's name ? "

" Geppetto."

"And uhat trade does he follow?"

" He is a beggar."'

" Does he gain much ? "

" Gain much ? Why, he has never a penny in
his pocket. Only think, to buy a Spelling-book
for me to go to school he was obliged to sell the

62 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

only coat he had to wear — a coat that, between
patches and darns, was not fit to be seen."

" Poor devil ! I feel almost sorry for him! Here
are five gold pieces. Go at once and take them to
him with my compliments."

You can easily understand that Pinocchio thanked
the showman a thousand times. He embraced all
the puppets of the company one by one, even to
the gendarmes, and beside himself with delight set
out to return home.

But he had not gone far when he met on the
road a Fox lame of one foot, and a Cat blind of
both eyes, who were going along helping each
other like good companions in misfortune. The
Fox, who was lame, walked leaning on the Cat, and
the Cat, who was blind, was guided by the Fox.

" Good day, Pinocchio," said the Fox, accosting
him politely.

" How do you come to know my name ^ " asked
the puppet.

"I know your father well."

" Where did you see him ? "

"I saw him yesterday at the door of his house."

" And what was he doing .' "

"He was in his shirt sleeves and shivering with
cold."

" Poor papa ! But that is over ; for the tuture
he shall shiver no more ! . . "

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 6;^

"Why?"

"Because I am become a gentleman."

" A gentleman — you ! " said the Fox, and he
began to laugh rudely and scornfully. The Cat
also began to laugh, but to conceal it she combed
her whiskers with her forepaws.

"There is little to laugh at," cried Pinocchio

angrily. " I am really sorry to make your

mouths water, but if you know anything about

.it, you can see that these here are five gold

pieces."

And he pulled out the money that Fire-eater had
made him a present of

At the sympathetic ring of the money the Fox,
with an involuntary movement, stretched out the
paw that had seemed crippled, and the Cat opened
wide two eyes that looked like t\\o green lanterns.
It is true that she shut them again, and so quickly
that Pinocchio observed nothing.

" And now," asked the Fox, " what are you
going to do with all that money ? "

" First of all," answered the puppet, " I intend
to buy a new coat for my papa, made of gold and
silver, and with diamond buttons ; and then I will
buy a Spelling-book for myself."

" For yourself.? "

"Yes indeed: for I wish to go to school to study
in earnest."

64 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

" Look at me ! " said the Fox. " Through my
foohsh passion for study I have lost a leg."

" Look at me ! " said the Cat. " Through my
foolish passion for study I have lost the sight of
both my eyes."

At that moment a white Blackbird, that was
perched on the hedge by the road, began his usual
song, and said :

"Pinocchio, don't listen to the advice of bad
companions : if you do you will repent it ! . . ."

Poor Blackbird ! If only he had not spoken !
The Cat, with a great leap, sprang upon him, and
without even giving him time to say Oh ! ate him
in a mouthful, feathers and all.

Having eaten him and cleaned her mouth she shut
her eyes again and feigned blindness as before.

" Poor Blackbird ! " said Pinocchio to the Cat^
*' why did you treat him so badly? "

" I did it to give him a lesson. He will learn
another time not to meddle in other people's
conversation."

They had gone almost half-way when the Fox,
halting suddenly, said to the puppet :

"Would you like to double your money?"

" In what way ? "

" Would you like to make out of your five miserable
sovereigns, a hundred, a thousand, two thousand ? "

" I should think so ! but in what way ? "

"Don't listen to the advice of bad companions.

66 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

"The way is easy enough. Instead of returning
home you must go with us,"

"And where do you wish to take me?"

"To the land of the Owls."

Pinocchio reflected a moment, and then he said
resolutely :

" No, I will not go. I am already close to the
house, and I will return home to my papa who is
waiting for me. Who can tell how often the poor
old man must have sighed yesterday when I did not
come back ! I have indeed been a bad son, and
the Talking-cricket was right when he said: 'Dis-
obedient boys never come to any good in the world.'
I have found it to my cost, for many misfortunes
have happened to me. Even yesterday in Fire-
eater's house I ran the risk. . . . Oh ! it makes
me shudder only to think of it ! "

"Well, then," said the Fox, "you are quite
decided to go home ? Go, then, and so much the
worse for you."

" So much the worse for you ! " repeated the Cat.

" Think well of it, Pinocchio, for you are giving
a kick to fortune."

"To fortune! " repeated the Cat.

" Between to-day and to-morrow your five
sovereigns would have become two thousand."

" Two thousand ! " repeated the Cat.

" But how is it possible that they could have

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 6-]

become so many ? " asked Pinocchio, remaining
with his mouth open from astonishment.

" I will explain it to you at once," said the Fox.
" You must know that in the land of the Owls
there is a sacred field called by everybody the Field
of miracles. In this field you must dig a little hole,
and you put into it, we will say, one gold sovereign.
You then cover up the hole with a little earth :
you must water it with two pails of water from the
fountain, then sprinkle it with two pinches of salt,
and when night comes you can go quietly to bed.
In the meanwhile, during the night, the golJ piece
will grow and flower, and in the morning when you
get up and return to the field, what do you find ?
You find a beautiful tree laden with as many gold
sovereigns as a fine ear of corn has grains in the
month of June."

"So that," said Pinocchio, more and more be-
wildered, "supposing I buried my five sovereigns
in that field, how many should I find there the
following morning.''"

"That is an exceedingly easy calculation," replied
the Fox, "a calculation that you can make on the
ends of your fingers. Put that every sovereign
gives you an increase of five hundred : multiply five
hundred by five, and the following morning will find
you with two thousand five hundred shining gold
pieces in your pocket."

68 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

" Oh ! how delightful ! " cried Pinocchio, dancing
for joy. " As soon as ever I have obtained those
sovereigns, I will keep two thousand for myself, and
the other five hundred I will make a present of to
you two."

" A present to us ? " cried the Fox with indigna-
tion and appearing much offended. " What are you
dreaming of .^"

"What are you dreaming of.'"' repeated the Cat.

" We do not work," said the Fox, " for dirty
interest : we work solely to enrich others."

" Others ! " repeated the Cat.

"What good people!" thought Pinocchio to
himself: and forgetting there and then his papa,
the new coat, the Spelling-book, and all his good
resolutions, he said to the Fox and the Cat :

" Let us be oif at once. I will go with you.

XIII

The inn of The Red Craw-fish.

They walked, and walked, and walked, until at
last, towards evening, they arrived dead tired at
the inn of The Red Craw-fish.

" Let us stop here a little," said the Fox, " that
we may have something to eat and rest ourselves
for an hour or two. We will start again at mid-
night, so as to arrive at the Field of miracles by
dawn to-morrow morning."

Having gone into the inn they all three sat down
to table : but none of them had any appetite.

The Cat, who was suffering from indigestion and
feeling seriously indisposed, could only eat thirty-
five mullet with tomato sauce, and four portions of
tripe with Parmesan cheese ; and because she

70 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

thought the tripe was not seasoned enough, she
asked three times for the butter and grated cheese !

The Fox would also willingly have picked a httle,
but as his doctor had ordered him a strict diet, he
was forced to content himself simply with a hare
dressed with a sweet and sour sauce, and garnished
lightly with fat chickens and early pullets. After
the hare he sent for a made dish of partridges,
rabbits, frogs, lizards, and other delicacies; he
could not touch anything else. He had such a
disgust to food, he said, that he could put nothing
to his lips.

The one who ate the least was Pinocchio. He
asked for some walnuts and a hunch of bread, and
left everything on his plate. The poor boy, whose
thoughts were continually fixed on the Field of
miracles, had got in anticipation an indigestion of
gold pieces.

When they had supped, the Fox said to the host:

" Give us two good rooms, one for Mr Pinocchio,
and the other for me and my companion. We will
snatch a little sleep before we leave. Remember,
however, that at midnight we wish to be called to
continue our journey."

"Yes, gentlemen," answered the host, and he
winked at the Fox and the Cat, as much as to say :
" I know what you are up to. We understand one
another ! "

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 71

No sooner had Pinocchio got into bed than he
fell asleep at once and began to dream. And he
dreamt that he was in the middle of a field, and the
field was full of shrubs covered with clusters of gold

He dreamt . . . shrubs covered with clusters of gold sovereigns.

sovereigns, and as they swung in the wind they
went zin, zin, zin, almost as if they would say :
"Let who will, come and take us." But when
Pinocchio was at the most interesting moment, that
is, just as he was stretching out his hand to pick
handfuls of those beautiful gold pieces and to put

72 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

them in his pocket, he was suddenly wakened by-
three Tiolent blows on the door of his room.

It was the host who had come to tell him that
midnight had struck.

" Are my companions ready ? " asked the puppet.

" Ready ! Why, they left two hours ago."

" Why were they in such a hurry ? "

" Because the Cat had received a message to say
that her eldest kitten was ill with chilblains on his
feet, and was in danger of death."

" Did they pay for the supper,'"'

"What are you thinking of.^* They are much
too well educated to dream of offering such an
insult to a gentleman like you."

"What a pity! It is an insult that would have
given me so much pleasure ! " said Pinocchio,
scratching his head. He then asked :

" And where did my good friends say they would
wait for me ? "

" At the Field of miracles, to-morrow morning at
daybreak."

Pinocchio paid a sovereign for his supper and
that of his companions, and then left.

Outside the inn it was so pitch dark that he had
almost to grope his way, for it was impossible to
see a hand's breadth in front of him. In the
adjacent country not a leaf moved. Only some
night-birds flying across the road from one hedge to

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO y^

the other brushed Pinocchio's nose with their wings
as they passed, which caused him so much terror
that, springing back, he shouted : " Who goes
there ? " and the echo in the surrounding hills
repeated in the distance : " Who goes there ? Who
goes there ? Who goes there ? "

As he was walking along he saw a little insect
shining dimly on the trunk of a tree, hke a night-
light in a lamp of transparent china.
" Who are you ? " asked Pinocchio.
" I am the ghost of the Talking-cricket," answered
the insect in a low voice, so weak and faint that it
seemed to come from the other world.

" What do you want with me .f* " said the puppet.
"I want to give you some advice. Go back, and
take the four sovereigns that you have left to your
poor father, who is weeping and in despair because
you have never returned to him."

"By to-morrow my papa will be a gentleman,
for these four sovereigns will have become two
thousand."

"Don't trust, my boy, to those who promise to
make you rich in a day. Usually they are either
mad or rogues ! Give ear to me, and go back."
" On the contrary, I am determined to go on."
"The hour is late! ..."
"I am determined to go on."
"The night is dark! . . ."

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

" I am determined to go on."

" The road is dangerous ! . . ."

" I am determined to go on."

"Remember that boys who are bent on following
their caprices, and will have their own way, sooner
or later repent it."

"Always the same stories. Good-night, Cricket."

" Good-night, Pinocchio, and may Heaven preserve
you from dangers and from assassins."

No sooner had he said these words than the
Talking-cricket vanished suddenly like a light that
has been blown out, and the road became darker
than ever.

XIV

Pinocchio^ because he would not heed the good counsels
of the Talking-cricket^ falls amongst assassins.

" Really," said the puppet to himself as he resumed
his journey, "how unfortunate we poor boys are.
Everybody scolds us, everybody admonishes us,
everybody gives us good advice. To let them talk,
they would all take it into their heads to be our
fathers and our masters — all : even the Talking-
cricket. See now; because I don't choose to listen
to that tiresome Cricket, who knows, according to
him, how many misfortunes are to happen to me !
1 am even to meet with assassins ! That is, how-
ever, of little consequence, for I don't believe in
assassins — I have never believed in them. For me,
I think that assassins have been invented purposely
by papas to frighten boys who want to go out at
night. Besides, supposing I was to come across them
here in the road, do you imagine they would
frighten me ^. not the least in the world. I should

76 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

go to meet them and cry : ' Gentlemen assassins,
what do you want with me ? Remember that with
me there is no joking. Therefore go about your
business and be quiet ! ' At this speech, said in a
determined tone, those poor assassins — I think I see
them — would run away hke the wind. If, however,
they were so badly educated as not to run away,
why, then, I would run away myself, and there would
be an end of it. ..."

But Pinocchio had not time to finish his reasoning,
for at that moment he thought that he heard a slight
rustle of leaves behind him.

He turned to look, and saw in the gloom two
evil-looking black figures completely enveloped in
charcoal sacks. They were running after him on
tiptoe, and making great leaps like two phantoms.

" Here they are in reality ! " he said to himself,
and not knowing where to hide his gold pieces he put
them in his mouth precisely under his tongue.

Then he tried to escape. But he had not gone
a step when he felt himself seized by the arm, and
heard two horrid sepulchral voices saying to him :

" Your money or your life ! "

Pinocchio, not being able to answer in words,
owing to the money that was in his mouth, made a
thousand low bows and a thousand pantomimes. He
tried thus to make the two muffled figures, whose
eyes were only visible through the holes in their

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO -j-]

sacks, understand that he was a poor puppet, and that
he had not as much as a false farthing in his pocket.
" Come now ! Less nonsense and out with the
money ! " cried the two brigands threateningly.

The puppet made a gesture with his hands to signify :
**I have got none."

And the puppet made a gesture with his hands to
signify : " I have got none."

" Deliver up your money or you are dead," said
the tallest of the brigands.

" Dead ! " repeated the other.

"And after we have killed you, we will also kill
your father."

" Also your father! "

78 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

'' No, no, no, not my poor papa ! " cried Pinocchio
in a despairing tone ; and as he said it, the
sovereigns dinked in his mouth.

" Ah ! you rascal ! Then you have hidden
your money under your tongue ! Spit it out at
once ! "

But Pinocchio was obdurate.

" Ah ! you pretend to be deaf, do you ? Wait a
moment, leave it to us to find a means to make you
spit it out."

And one of them seized the puppet by the end of
his nose, and the other took him by the chin, and
began to pull them brutally, the one up and the
other down, to constrain him to open his mouth.
But it was all to no purpose. Pinocchio's mouth
seemed to be nailed and riveted together.

Then the shorter assassin drew out an ugly knife
and tried to force it between his lips like a lever or
chisel. But Pinocchio, as quick as lightning, caught
his hand with his teeth, and with one bite bit it clean
off and spat it out. Imagine his astonishment when
instead of a hand he perceived that he had spat a
cat's paw on to the ground.

Encouraged by this first victory he used his nails
to such purpose that he succeeded in liberating him-
self from his assailants, and jumping the hedge by
the roadside he began to fly across country. The
assassins ran after him like two dogs chasing a hare :

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 79

and the one who had lost a paw ran on one leg,
and no one ever knew how he managed it.

After a race of some miles Pinocchio could do no
more. Giving himself up for lost he climbed the
stem of a very high pinetree and seated himself in
the topmost branches. The assassins attempted to
climb after him, but when they had reached half-
way up the stem they slid down again, and arrived
on the ground with the skin grazed from their hands
and knees.

But they were not to be beaten by so little :
collecting a quantity of dry wood they piled it
beneath the pine and set fire to it. In less time
than it takes to tell the pine began to burn and to
flame like a candle blown by the wind. Pinocchio,
seeing that the flames were mounting higher every
instant, and not wishing to end his life like a roasted
pigeon, made a stupendous leap from the top of the
tree and started afresh across the fields and vine-
yards. The assassins followed him, and kept
behind him without once giving in.

The day began to break and they were still
pursuing him. Suddenly Pinocchio found his way
barred by a wide deep ditch full of dirty water the
colour of coffee. What was he to do.** "One!
two ! three ! cried the puppet, and makmg a rush
he sprang to the other side. The assassins also
jumped, but not having measured the distance

8o THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

properly — splash, splash ! . . . they fell into the
very middle of the ditch. Pinocchio, who heard the
plunge and the splashing of the water, shouted out,
laughing, and without stopping :

" A fine bath to you, gentleman assassins."
And he felt convinced that they were drowned,
when, turning to look, he perceived that on the
contrary they were both running after him, still
enveloped in their sacks, with the water dripping
from them as if they had been two hollow baskets.

The assassins pursue Pinocchio ; and having overtaken
him hang him to a branch of the Big Oak.

At this sight the puppet's courage failed him, and
he was on the point of throwing himself on the
ground and giving himself over for lost. Turning,
however, his eyes in every direction, he saw at some
distance, standing out amidst the dark green of the
trees, a small house as white as snow.

"If I had only breath to reach that house," he
said to himself, " perhaps I should be saved."

And without delaying an instant, he recommenced
running for his life through the wood, and the
assassins after him.

At last, after a desperate race of nearly two
hours, he arrived quite breathless at the door of the
house, and knocked.

No one answered.

He knocked again with great violence, for he
heard the sound of steps approaching him, and the
heavy panting of his persecutors. The same
silence.

82 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

Seeing that knocking was useless he began in
desperation to kick and pommel the door with all
his might. The window then opened and a beauti-
ful Child appeared at it. She had blue hair and a
face as white as a waxen image; her eyes were

' If I could only reach that house," he said.

closed and her hands were crossed on her breast.
Without moving her lips in the least, she said in a
voice that seemed to come from the other world :

"In this house there is no one. They are all
dead."

" Then at least open the door for me yourself,"
shouted Pinocchio, crying and imploring.

" I am dead also."

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 83

"Dead? then what are you doing there at the
window? "

" I am waiting for the bier to come to carry me
away."

Having said this she immediately disappeared,
and the window was closed again without the
slightest noise.

"Oh! beautiful Child with blue hair," cried
Pinocchio, "open the door for pity's sake! Have
compassion on a poor boy pursued by assas . . ."

But he could not finish the word, for he felt
himself seized by the collar, and the same two
horrible voices said to him threateningly :

" You shall not escape from us again ! "

The puppet, seeing death staring him in the
face, was taken with such a violent fit of
trembling that the joints of his wooden legs
began to creak, and the sovereigns hidden under
his tongue to clink.

"Now then," demanded the assassins, "will you
open your mouth, yes or no ? Ah ! no answer ? . . .
Leave it to us : this time we will force you to
open it ! . . ."

And drawing out two long horrid knives as sharp
as razors, clash . . . they attempted to stab him
twice.

But the puppet, luckily for him, was made ot
very hard wood ; the knives therefore broke into a

84 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

thousand pieces, and the assassins were left with the
handles in their hands staring at each other.

"I see what we must do," said one of them,
"He must be hung! let us hang him! "

" Let us hang him ! " repeated the other.

Without loss of time they tied his arms behind
him, passed a running noose round his throat, and
then hung him to the branch of a tree called the
Big Oak.

They then sat down on the grass and waited for his
last struggle. But at the end of three hours the
puppet's eyes were still open, his mouth closed, and
he was kicking more than ever.

Losing patience they turned to Pinocchio and
said in a bantering tone :

" Good-bye till to-morrow. Let us hope that
when we return you will be polite enough to allow
yourself to be found quite dead, and with your I
mouth wide open."

And they walked off.

In the meantime a tempestuous northerly wind
began to blow and roar angrily, and it beat the poor
puppet as he hung from side to side, making him
swing violently like the clatter of a bell ringing for a
wedding. And the swinging gave him atrocious
spasms, and the running noose, becoming still tighter
round his throat, took away his breath.

Little by little his eyes began to grow dim, but

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 85

although he felt that death was near he still con-
tinued to hope that some charitable person would
come to his assistance before it was too late. But
when, after waiting and waiting, he found that no
one came, absolutely no one, then he remembered
his poor father, and thinking he was dying ... he
stammered out :

" Oh, papa ! papa ! if only you were here ! "
His breath failed him and he could say no more.
He shut his eyes, opened his mouth, stretched his
legs, gave a long shudder, and hung stiff and
insensible.

XVI

The beautiful Child with blue hair has the puppet
taken down : has been put to bed and calls in
three doctors to know if he is alive or dead.

Whilst poor Pinocchio, suspended to a branch of
the Big Oak, was apparently more dead than ahve,
the beautiful Child with blue hair came again to the
window. When she saw the unhappy puppet hang-
ing by his throat, and dancing up and down in the
gusts of the north wind, she was moved by com-
passion. Striking her hands together she made
three little claps.

At this signal there came a sound of the sweep of
wings flying rapidly, and a large Falcon flew on to
the window-sill.

" What are your orders, gracious Fairy '^. " he
asked, inclining his beak in sign of reverence — for I
must tell you that the Child with blue hair was no
more and no less than a beautiful Fairy, who for
more than a thousand years had lived in the wood.

88 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

" Do you see that puppet dangling from a branch
of the Big Oak?"

"I see him."

<' Very well. Fly there at once : with your strong
beak break the knot that keeps him suspended in the
air, and lay him gently on the grass at the foot of
the tree."

The Falcon flew away, and after two minutes he
returned, saying :

"I have done as you commanded."

"And how did you find him? "

"To see him he appeared dead, but he cannot
really be quite dead, for I had no sooner loosened
the running noose that tightened his throat than,
giving a sigh, he muttered in a faint voice : " Now I
feel better ! . . ."

The Fairy then striking her hands together
made two little claps, and a magnificent Poodle
appeared, walking upright on his hind-legs exactly
as if he had been a man.

He was in the full-dress livery of a coachman.
On his head he had a three-cornered cap braided
with gold, his curly white wig came down on to his
shoulders, he had a chocolate-coloured waistcoat
with diamond buttons, and two large pockets to
contain the bones that his mistress gave him at
dinner. He had besides a pair of short crimson velvet
breeches, silk stockings, cut-down shoes, and hanging

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 89

behind him a species of umbrella-case made of blue
satin, to put his tail into when the weather was rainy.

" Be quick, Medoro, like a good dog ! " said the
Fairy to the Poodle. " Have the most beautiful
carriage in my coach-house put to, and take the road
to the wood. When you come to the Big Oak you
will find a poor puppet stretched on the grass half
dead. Pick him up gently, and lay him flat on the
cushions of the carriage and bring him here to me.
Have you understood ,'' "

The Poodle, to show that he had understood,
shook the case of blue satin that he had on three
or four times, and ran off like a racehorse.

Shortly afterwards a beautiful little carriage came
out of the coach-house. The cushions were stuffed
with canary feathers, and it was lined in the inside
with whipped cream, custard, and Savoy biscuits.
The little carriage was drawn by a hundred pairs of
white mice, and the Poodle, seated on the coach-box,
cracked his whip from side to side like a driver when
he is afraid that he is behind time.

A quarter of an hour had not passed when the
carriage returned. The Fairy, who was waiting
at the door of the house, took the poor puppet in
her arms, and carried him into a little room that
was wainscotted with mother-of-pearl, and sent at
once to summon the most famous doctors in the
neighbourhood.

90 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

The doctors came immediately one after the
other: namely a Crow, an Owl, and a Talking-
cricket.

" I wish to know from you gentlemen," said the
Fairy, turning to the three doctors who were
assembled round Pinocchio's bed — " I wish to know
from you gentlemen, if this unfortunate puppet is
alive or dead ! . . ."

At this request the Crow, advancing first, felt
Pinocchio's pulse ; he then felt his nose, and then
the little toe of his foot : and having done this
carefully, he pronounced solemnly the following
words :

" To my belief the puppet is already quite dead ;
but if unfortunately he should not be dead, then it
would be a sign that he is still alive ! "

" I regret," said the Owl, "to be obliged to con-
tradict the Crow, my illustrious friend and colleague ;
but in my opinion the puppet is still alive : but if
unfortunately he should not be alive, then it would
be a sign that he is dead indeed ! "

" And you — have you nothing to say ? " asked the
Fairy of the Talking-cricket.

" In my opinion the wisest thing a prudent doctor
can do, when he does not know what he is talking
about, is to be silent. For the rest, that puppet
there has a face that is not new to me. I have
known him for some time ! . . ."

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 91

Pinocchio, who up to that moment had lain
immovable, like a real piece of wood, was seized with
a fit of convulsive trembling that shook the whole
bed.

'' That puppet there," continued the Talking-
cricket, " is a confirmed rogue. . . ."

Pinocchio opened his eyes, but shut them again
immediately.

" He is a ragamuffin, a do-nothing, a
vagabond. . . ."

Pinocchio hid his face beneath the clothes.

" That puppet there is a disobedient son who will
make his poor father die of a broken heart ! . . ."

At that instant a suffocated sound of sobs and
crying was heard in the room. Imagine everybody's
astonishment when, having raised the sheets a little,
it was discovered that the sounds came from
Pinocchio.

" When the dead person cries, it is a sign that he
is on the road to get well," said the Crow solemnly.

" I grieve to contradict my illustrious friend and
colleague," added the Owl ; " but for me, when the
dead person cries, it is a sign that he is sorry to die."

XVIT

Pinocchio eats the sugar, but will not take his medicine :
when^ however, he sees the grave-diggers, who
have arrived to carry him away, he takes it. He
then tells a lie, and as a punishment his nose
grows longer.

As soon as the three doctors had left the room the
Fairy approached Pinocchio, and having touched his
forehead she perceived that he was in a high fever
that was not to be trifled with.

She therefore dissolved a certain white powder in
half a tumbler of water, and oflFering it to the puppet
she said to him lovingly :

" Drink it, and in a few days you will be
cured."

Pinocchio looked at the tumbler, made a wry
face, and then asked in a plaintive voice :

"Is it sweet or bitter?"

" It is bitter, but it will do you good,"

"If it is bitter, I will not take it."

"Listen to me: drink it."

<)4 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

"I don't like anything bitter."

"Drink it, and when you have drunk it I will
give you a lump of sugar to take away the taste."

" Where is the lump of sugar? "

" Here it is," said the Fairy, taking a piece from
a gold sugar-basin.

" Give me first the lump of sugar, and then I will
drink that bad bitter water. . . ."

" Do you promise me ? "

"Yes. . . ."

The Fairy gave him the sugar, and Pinocchio,
having crunched it up and swallowed it in a second,
said, licking his lips :

" It would be a fine thing if sugar was medicine !
... 1 would take it every day."

" Now keep your promise and drink these few
drops of water, which will restore you to health."

Pinocchio took the tumbler unwillingly in his
hand and put the point of his nose to it : he then
approached it to his lips : he then again put his
nose to it, and at last said :

" It is too bitter ! too bitter! I cannot drink it."

"How can you tell that, when you have not even
tasted it ? "'

" I can imagine it ! I know it from the smell. I
want first another lump of sugar . . . and then I
will drink it! . . ."

The Fairy then, with all the patience of a good

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 95

mamma, put another lump of sugar in his mouth,
and then again presented the tumbler to him.

" I cannot drink it so ! " said the puppet, making
a thousand grimaces.

" Why ? "

"Because that pillow that is down there on my
I feet bothers me."

The Fairy removed the pillow.

" It is useless. Even so I cannot drink it. . . ."

"What is the matter now.^"'

" The door of the room, which is halt open,
bothers me."

The Fairy went and closed the door.

" In short," cried Pinocchio, bursting into tears,
" I will not drink that bitter water — no, no, no! . . ."

"My boy, you will repent it. . . ."

" I don't care. . . ."

" Your illness is serious. . . ."

" I don't care. . . ."

"The fever in a few hours will carry you into
the other world. . . ."

"I don't care. . . ."

" Are you not afraid of death ? "

" I am not in the least afraid ! . . . I would
rather die than drink that bitter medicine."

At that moment the door of the room flew open,
and four rabbits as black as ink entered carrying on
their shoulders a little bier.

96 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

" What do vou want with me ? cried Pinocchio,
sitting up in bed in a great fright.

" We are come to take you," said the biggest
rabbit.

" To take me ? . . . But I am not yet dead ! . . ."

" No, not yet : but you have only a few minutes
to live, as you have refused the medicine that
would have cured you of the fever."

" Oh, Fairy, Fairy ! " the puppet then began to
scream, " give me the tumbler at once ... be
quick, for pity's sake, for I will not die — no . . .
I will not die. . . ."

And taking the tumbler in both hands he emptied
it at a draught.

" We must have patience ! " said the rabbits ;
"this time we have made our journey in vain."
And taking the little bier again on their shoulders
they left the room, grumbling and murmuring
between their teeth.

In fact, a few minutes afterwards Pinocchio
jumped down from the bed quite well : because
you must know that wooden puppets have the
privilege of being seldom ill and of being cured
very quickly.

The Fairy, seeing him running and rushing about
the room as gay and as lively as a young cock, said
to him :

" Then my medicine has really done you good ? '*

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 97

" Good, I should think so ! It has restored me
to life I . . ."

"Then why on earth did you require so much
persuasion to take it?"

" Because you see that we boys are all like that!
We are more afraid of medicine than of the illness."

" Disgraceful I Boys ought to know that a good
remedy taken in time may save them from a serious
illness, and perhaps even from death. ..."

Oh ! but another time I shall not require so much
persuasion, I shall remember those black rabbits
with the bier on their shoulders . . . and then
I shall immediately take the tumbler in my hand,
and down it will go I . . ."

" Now come here to me, and tell me how it came
about that you fell into the hands of those assassins."

"It came about that the showman Fire-eater gave
me some gold pieces and said to me : ' Go, and
take them to your father!' and instead I met on
the road a Fox and a Cat, two very respectable
persons, who said to me: 'Would you like those
pieces of gold to become a thousand or two?
Come with us and we will take you to the
Field of miracles,' and I said: 'Let us go.'
And they said : ' Let us stop at the inn of the
Red Craw-fish,' and after midnight they left.
And wht n I awoke I found that they were no
longer there, because they had gone away. Then

98 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

I began to travel by night, for you cannot imagine
how dark it was ; and on that account I met on
the road two assassins in charcoal sacks who said
to me : ' Out with your money,' and I said to them :
' I have got none,' because I had hidden the four
gold pieces in my mouth, and one of the assassins
tried to put his hand in my mouth, and I bit his
hand off and spat it out, but instead of a hand I
spat out a cat's paw. And the assassins ran after
me, and I ran, and ran, until at last they caught
me, and tied me by the neck to a tree in this wood,
and said to me : ' To-morrow we shall return here,
and then you will be dead with your mouth open,
and we shall be able to carry off the pieces of gold
that you have hidden under your tongue.' "

" And the four pieces — v/here have you put
them ? " asked the Fairy.

"I have lost them! " said Pinocchio ; but he was
telling a lie, for he had them in his pocket.

He had scarcely told the lie when his nose, which
was already long, grew at once two fingers longer.

" And where did you lose them ? "

" In the wood near here."

At this second lie his nose went on growing.

"If you have lost them in the wood near here,"
said the Fairy, " we will look for them, and we
shall find them : because everything that is lost
in that wood is always found."

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 99

"Ah! now I remember all about it," replied the
puppet, getting quite confused ; " I didn't lose the
four gold pieces, I swallowed them inadvertently
whilst I was drinking your medicine."

At this third lie his nose grew to such an extra-

His nose had increased so much.

ordinary length that poor Pinocchio could not move
in any direction. If he turned to one side he struck
his nose against th^ bed or the window-panes, if
he turned to the other he struck it against the walls
or the door, if he raised his head a little he ran the
risk of sticking it into one of the Fairy's eyes.
And the Fairy looked at him and laughed.

loo THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

" What are you laaghing at ? " asked the puppet,
very confused and anxious at finding his nose
growing so prodigiously.

" I am laughing at the lie you have told.

" And how can you possibly know that I have
told a lie ? "

" Lies, my dear boy, are found out immediately,
because they are of two sorts. There are lies that
have short legs, and lies that have long noses.
Your lie, as it happens, is one of those that have
a long nose."

Pinocchio, not knowing where to hide himself for
shame, tried to run out of the room ; but he did
not succeed, for his nose had increased so much
that it could no longer pass through the door.

XVIII

Pinocchio meets again the Fox and the Cat, and goes
with them to bury his money in the Field of
miracles.

The Fairy, as you can imagine, allowed the puppet
to cry and to roar for a good half-hour over his
nose, which could no longer pass through the door
of the room. This she did to give him a severe
lesson, and to correct him of the disgraceful fault of
telling lies — the most disgraceful fault that a boy can
have. But when she saw him quite disfigured, and
his eyes swollen out of his head from weeping, she
felt full of compassion for him. She therefore beat
her hands together, and at that signal a thousand
large birds called Woodpeckers flew in at the
window. They immediately perched on Pinocchio's
nose, and began to peck at it with such zeal that

102 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

in a few minutes his enormous and ridiculous nose
was reduced to its usual dimensions.

"What a good Fairy you are," said the puppet,
drying his eyes, " and how much I love you ! "

"I love you also," answered the Fairy; "and
if yoQ will remain with me, you shall be my little
brother and I will be your good little sister. . . ."

" I would remain willingly . . . but my poor
papa ? "

" I have thought of everything. I have already
let your father know, and he will be here to-night."

"Really?" shouted Pinocchio, jumping for joy.
"Then, little Fairy, if you consent, I should like
to go and meet him. I am so anxious to give a
kiss to that poor old man, who has suffered so much
on my account, that I am counting the minutes."

" Go, then, but be careful not to lose yourself.
Take the road through the wood and I am sure
that you will meet him,"

Pinocchio set out ; and as soon as he was in the
wood he began to run like a kid. But when he
had reached a certain spot, almost in front of the
Big Oak, he stopped, because he thought that he
heard people amongst the bushes. In fact, two
persons came out on to the road. Can you guess
who they were.? . . . His two travelling com-
panions, the Fox and the Cat, with whom he had
supped at the inn of the Red Craw-fish.

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 103

"Why, here is our dear Pinocchio ! " cried the
Fox, kissing and embracing him. " How come
you to be here ? "

" How come you to be here ? " repeated the Cat.

" It is a long story," answered the puppet,
" which I will tell you when I have time. But do

"ak.

'mn.

hP0

" Why, here is our dear Pinocchio ! " cried the Fox.

you know that the other night, when you left me
alone at the inn, I met with assassins on the
road. ..."

"Assassins! . . • Oh, poor Pinocchio! And
what did they want ? "

"They wanted to rob me of my gold pieces."

" Villains I . . ." said the Fox.

I04 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

"Infamous villains! " repeated the Cat.

" But I ran away from them," continued the
puppet, " and they followed me : and at last they
overtook me and hung me to a branch of that
oak-tree. ..."

And Pinocchio pointed to the Big Oak, which
was two steps from them.

" Is it possible to hear of anything more
dreadful ? " said the Fox. " In what a world we
are condemned to live ! Where can respectable
people like us find a safe refuge ^ "

Whilst they were thus talking Pinocchio observed
that the Cat was lame of her front right leg, for
in fact she had lost her paw with all its claws. He
therefore asked her :

" What have you done with your paw .?"

The Cat tried to answer but became confused.
Therefore the Fox said immediately :

" My friend is too modest, and that is why she
doesn't speak. I will answer for her. I must
tell you that an hour ago we met an old wolf on
the road, almost fainting from want of food, who
asked alms of us. Not having so much as a fish-
bone to give him, what did my friend, who has really
the heart of a Csesar, do f She bit off one of her
fore paws, and threw it to that poor beast that he
might appease his hunger."

And the Fox, in relating this, dried a tear.

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 105

Pinocchio was also touched, and approaching the
Cat he whispered into her ear :

"If all cats resembled you, how fortunate the
mice would be ! "

" And now, what are you doing here ? " asked
the Fox of the puppet.

" I am waiting for my papa, whom I expect to
arrive every moment."

''And your gold pieces.'"'

" I have got them in my pocket, all but one
that I spent at the inn of the Red Craw-fish."

" And to think that, instead of four pieces, by
to-morrow they might become one or two thousand !
Why do you not listen to my advice ? why will
you not go and bury them in the Field of miracles ? "

"To-day it is impossible : I will go another day."

" Another day it will be too late ! . . ." said
the Fox.

"Why.?"

" Because the field has been bought by a
gentleman, and after to-morrow no one will be
allowed to bury money there."

" How far off is the Field of miracles ? "

"Not two miles. Will you come with us.'* In
half an hour you will be there. You can bury your
money at once, and in a few minutes you will collect
two thousand, and this evening you will return with
your pockets full. Will you come with us."*"

io6 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

Pinocchio thought of the good Fairy, old
Geppetto, and the warnings of the Talking-cricket,
and he hesitated a little before answering. He ended,
however, by doing as all boys do who have not a
grain of sense and who have no heart — he ended
by giving his head a little shake, and saying to the
Fox and the Cat :

" Let us go : I will come with you."

And they went.

After having walked half the day they reached
a town that was called " Trap for blockheads." As
soon as Pinocchio entered this town, he saw that
the streets were crowded with dogs who had lost
their coats and who were yawning from hunger,
shorn sheep trembling with cold, cocks without
combs or crests who were begging for a grain of
Indian corn, large butterflies who could no longer
fly because they had sold their beautiful coloured
wings, peacocks who had no tails and were ashamed
to be seen, and pheasants who went scratching
about in a subdued fashion, mourning for their
brilliant gold and silver feathers gone for ever.

In the midst of this crowd of beggars and shame-
faced creatures, some lordly carriage passed from
time to time containing a Fox, or a thieving
Magpie, or some other ravenous bird of prey.

" And where is the Field of miracles ? " asked
Pinocchio.

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 107

"It is here, not two steps from us."

They crossed the town, and having gone beyond
the walls they came to a solitary field which to look
at resembled all other fields.

"We are arrived," said the Fox to the puppet.
"Now stoop down and dig with your hands a little
hole in the ground and put your gold pieces into it."

Pinocchio obeyed. He dug a hole, -put into it
the four gold pieces that he had left, and then filled
up the hole with a little earth.

"Now, then," said the Fox, go to that canal
close to us, fetch a can of water, and water the
ground where you have sowed them."

Pinocchio went to the canal, and as he had no
can he took off one of his old shoes, and filling it
with water he watered the ground over the hole.

He then asked :

"Is there anything else to be done.'"'

" Nothing else," answered the Fox. " We can
now go away. You can return in about twenty
minutes, and you will find a shrub already pushing
through the ground, with its branches quite loaded
with money."

The poor puppet, beside himself with joy, thanked
the Fox and the Cat a thousand times, and promised
them a beautiful present.

" We wish for no presents," answered the two
rascals. " It is enough for us to have taught you

io8 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

the way to enrich yourself without undergoing
hard work, and we are as happy as folk out for a
holiday."

Thus saying they took leave of Pinocchio, and,
wishing him a good harvest, went about their
business.

yilE^

XIX

Finocchio is robbed of his money ^ and as a punishment
he is sent to prison for four months.

The puppet returned to the town and began to
count the minutes one by one ; and when he
thought that it must be time he took the road
leading to the Field of miracles.

And as he walked along with hurried steps his
heart beat fast tic, tac, tic, tac, like a drawing-room
clock when it is really going well. Meanwhile he
was thinking to himself:

" And if instead of a thousand gold pieces, I was

to find on the branches of the tree two thousand ?

. . . And instead of two thousand supposing I

found five thousand ? and instead of five thousand

that I found a hundred thousand ? Oh ! what a

fine gentleman I should then become I ... I would

109

no THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

have a beautiful palace, a thousand little wooden
horses and a thousand stables to amuse myself with,
a cellar full of currant-wine and sweet syrups, and
a library quite full of candies, tarts, plum-cakes,
macaroons, and biscuits with cream."

Whilst he was building these castles in the air he
had arrived in the neighbourhood of the field, and
he stopped to look if by chance he could perceive a
tree with its branches laden with money : but he
saw nothing. He advanced another hundred steps
— nothing : he entered the field ... he went right
up to the little hole where he had buried his
sovereigns — and nothing. He then became very
thoughtful, and forgetting the rules of society and
good manners he took his hands out of his pocket
and gave his head a long scratch.

At that moment he heard an explosion of laughter
close to him, and looking up he saw a large Parrot
perched on a tree, who was pruning the few feathers
he had left.

"Why are you laughing?" asked Pinocchio in
an angry voice.

"I am laughing because in pruning my feathers
I tickled myself under my wings."

The puppet did not answer, but went to the
canal and, filling the same old shoe full of water, he
proceeded to water the earth afresh that covered
his gold pieces.

"You ill-educated Parrot."

112 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

Whilst he was thus occupied another laugh, and
still more impertinent than the first, rang out in the
silence of that solitary place.

"Once for all," shouted Pinocchio in a rage,
" may I know, you ill-educated Parrot, what you
are laughing at ? "

"I am laughing at those simpletons who believe
in all the foolish things that are told them, and who
allow themselves to be entrapped by those who are
more cunning than they are."

" Are you perhaps speaking of me? " j

" Yes, I am speaking of you, poor Pinocchio — of
you who are simple enough to believe that money ,
can be sown and gathered in fields in the same way "j
as beans and gourds. I also believed it once, and
to-day I am suffering for it. To-day — but it is too
late — I have at last learnt that to put a few pennies
honestly together it is necessary to know how to
earn them, either by the work of our own hands or
by the cleverness of our own brains."

" I don't understand you," said the puppet, who
was already trembling with fear.

"Have patience! I will explain myself better,"
rejoined the Parrot. "You must know, then, that
whilst you were in the town the Fox and the Cat
returned to the field : they took the buried money
and then fled like the wind. And now he that
catches them will be clever."

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 113

Pinocchio remained with his mouth open, and not
choosing to believe the Parrot's words he began
with his hands and nails to dig up the earth that he
had watered. And he dug, and dug, and dug, and
made such a deep hole that a rick of straw might
have stood upright in it : but the money was no
longer there.

He rushed back to the town in a state of desperation,
and went at once to the Courts of Justice to denounce
the two knaves who had robbed him to the judge.

The judge was a big ape of the gorilla tribe —
an old ape respectable for his age, his white beard,
but especially for his gold spectacles without glasses
that he was always obliged to wear, on account of
an inflammation of the eyes that had tormented him
for many years.

Pinocchio related in the presence of the judge all
the particulars of the infamous fraud of which he
had been the victim. He gave the names, the
surnames, and other details, of the two rascals, and
ended by demanding justice.

The judge listened with great benignity ; took a
lively interest in the story ; was much touched and
moved ; and when the puppet had nothing further
to say he stretched out his hand and rang a bell.

At this summons two mastiffs immediately appeared
dressed as gendarmes. The judge then, pointing to
Pinocchio, said to them :

114 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

"That poor devil has been robbed of four gold
pieces ; take him up, and put him immediately into
prison."

The puppet was petrified on hearing this un-
expected sentence, and tried to protest; but the
gendarmes, to avoid losing time, stopped his mouth,
and carried him off to the lock-up.

And there he remained for four months — four
long months — and he would have remained longer
still if a fortunate chance had not released him. For
I must tell you that the young Emperor who reigned
over the town of "Trap for blockheads," having j
won a splendid victory over his enemies, ordered
great public rejoicings. There were illuminations,
fire-works, horse races, and velocipede races, and as
a further sign of triumph he commanded that the
prisons should be opened and all the prisoners
liberated.

"If the others are to be let out of prison, I will
go also," said Pinocchio to the jailor.

"No, not you," said the jailor, "because you do
not belong to the fortunate class."

" I beg your pardon," replied Pinocchio, " I am
also a criminal." j

"In that case you are perfectly right," said the '
jailor ; and taking off his hat and bowing to him
respectfully he opened the prison doors and let him j
escape.

Liberated from prison^ he starts to return to the Fairy's
house ; but on the road he meets with a horrible
serpent^ and afterwards he is caught in a trap.

You can imagine Pinocchio's joy when he found
himself free. Without stopping to take breath he
immediately left the town and took the road that
led to the Fairy's house.

On account of the rainy weather the road had
become a marsh into which he sank knee-deep.
But the puppet would not give in. Tormented by
the desire of seeing his father and his little sister
with blue hair again he ran and leapt like a grey-
hound, and as he ran he was splashed with mud
from head to foot. And he said to himself as he
went along: "How many misfortunes have happened
to me . . . and I deserved them ! for I am an
obstinate, passionate puppet. ... I am always bent
upon having my own way, without listening to those
■who wish me well, and who have a thousand times

ii6 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

more sense than I have! . . . But from this thne
forth I am determined to change and to become
orderly and obedient. . . . For at last I have seen
that disobedient boys come to no good and gain
nothing. And will my papa have waited for me ?
Shall I find him at the Fairy's house ! Poor man, it
is so long since I last saw him : I am dying to em-
brace him, and to cover him with kisses ! And will
the Fairy forgive me my bad conduct to her.? . . .
To think of all the kindness and loving care I received
from her ... to think that if I am now alive I owe
it to her ! . . . Would it be possible to find a more
ungrateful boy, or one with less heart than I
have ! . . ."

Whilst he was saying this he stopped suddenly,
frightened to death, and made four steps backwards.

AVhat had he seen ? . . .

He had seen an immense Serpent stretched across
the road. Its skin was green, it had red eyes, and
a pointed tail that was smoking like a chimney.

It would be impossible to imagine the puppet's
terror. He walked away to a safe distance, and
sitting down on a heap of stones waited until the
Serpent should have gone about its business and had
left the road clear.

He waited an hour ; two hours ; three hours ;
but the Serpent was always there, and even from a
distance he could see the red light of his fiery eyes

The poor puppet had been taken in a trap.

ii8 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

and the column of smoke that ascended from ihe
end of his tail.

At last Pinocchio, trying to feel courageous,
approached to within a few steps, and said to the
Serpent in a little, soft, insinuating voice;

" Excuse me, Sir Serpent, but would you be so
good as to move a little to one side, just enough to
allow me to pass ? "

He might as well have spoken to the wall. No-
body moved.

He began again in the same soft voice :

" You must know, Sir Serpent, that I am on my
way home, where my father is waiting for me, and
it is such a long time since I saw him last I . . .
Will you therefore allow me to continue my
road .? "

He waited for a sign in answer to this request,
but there was none : in fact the Serpent, who up to
that moment had been sprightly and full of life,
became motionless and almost rigid. He shut his
eyes and his tail ceased smoking.

" Can he really be dead ? " said Pinocchio, rubbing
his hands with delight ; and he determined to jump
over him and reach the other side of the road. But
just as he was going to leap the Serpent raised him-
self suddenly on end, like a spring set in motion ;
and the puppet, drawing back, in his terror caught
his feet and fell to the ground.

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 119

And he fell so awkwardly that his head stuck in
the mud and his legs went into the air.

At the sight of the puppet kicking violently with
his head in the mud the Serpent went into convul-
sions of laughter, and he laughed, and laughed, and
laughed, until from the violence of his laughter he
broke a blood-vessel in his chest and died. And
that time he was really dead.

Pinocchio then set off running in hopes that he
should reach the Fairy's house before dark. But
before long he began to suffer so dreadfully from
hunger that he could not bear it, and he jumped in-
to a field by the way-side intending to pick some
bunches of muscatel grapes. Oh, that he had never
done it!

He had scarcely reached the vines when crac . . .
his legs were caught between two cutting iron bars,
and he became so giddy with pain that stars of every
colour danced before his eyes.

The poor puppet had been taken in a trap put
there to capture some big polecats who were the
scourge of the poultry-yards in the neighbourhood.

{s?

XXI

Pinocchio is taken by a peasant^ who obliges him to Jill
the place of his ivatch-dog in the poultry-yard.

Pinocchio, as you can imagine, began to cry and
scream : but his tears and groans were useless, for
there was not a house to be seen, and not a living
soul passed down the road.

At last night came on.

Partly from the pain of the trap that cut his legs,
and a little from fear at finding himself alone in the
dark in the midst of the fields, the puppet was on
the point of fainting. Just at that moment he saw
a Firefly flitting over his head. He called to it and
said :

"Oh, little Firefly, will you have pity on me and
liberate me from this torture ? "

" Poor boy ! " said the Firefly, stopping and look-
ing at him with compassion, " but how could your
legs have been caught by those sharp irons ? "

"I came into the field to pick two bunches of
these muscatel grapes, and . . ."

122 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

"But were the grapes yours ?"

"No. . . ."

" Then who taught you to carry off other people's
property ? "

" I was so hungry. ..."

" Hunger, my boy, is not a good reason for
appropriating what does not belong to us. . . ."

" That is true, that is true ! " said Pinocchio,
crying. " I will never do it again."

At this moment their conversation was interrupted
by a slight sound of approaching footsteps. It was
the owner of the field coming on tiptoe to see if one
of the polecats that ate his chickens during the night
had been caught in his trap.

His astonishment was great when, having brought
out his lantern from under his coat, he perceived
that instead of a polecat a boy had been taken.

" Ah, little thief ! " said the angry peasant, " then
it is you who carry off my chickens f"

" No, it is not I ; indeed it is not ! " cried
Pinocchio, sobbing. " I only came into the field to
take two bunches of grapes ! . . ."

"He who steals grapes is quite capable of stealing
chickens. Leave it to me, I will give you a lesson
that you will not forget in a hurry."

Opening the trap he seized the puppet by the
collar, and carried him to his house as if he had
been a young lamb.

" You shall be my watch-dog."

124 THE ADEVNTURES OF PINOCCHIO

When he reached the yard in front of the house
he threw him roughly on the ground, and putting
his foot on his neck he said to him :

" It is late, and I want to go to bed ; we will
settle our accounts to-morrow. In the meanwhile,
as the dog who kept guard at night died to-day,
you shall take his place at once. You shall be my
watch-dog."

And taking a great collar covered with brass
knobs he strapped it tightly round his throat that
he might not be able to draw his head out of it.
A heavy chain attached to the collar was fastened
to the wall.

" If it should rain to-night," he then said to him
" you can go and lie down in the kennel ; the straw
that has served as a bed for my poor dog for the
last four years is still there. If unfortunately
robbers should come, remember to keep your ears
pricked and to bark."

After giving him this last injunction the man
went into the house, shut the door, and put up the
chain.

Poor Pinocchio remained lying on the ground
more dead than alive from the effects of cold, hunger,
and fear. From time to time he put his hands
angrily to the collar that tightened his throat and
said, crying :

" It serves me right I . . . Decidedly it serves

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 125

me right ! I was determined to be a vagabond and
a good-for-nothing. ... I would listen to bad
companions, and that is why I always meet with
misfortunes. If I had been a good little boy as so
many are ; if I had been willing to learn and to
work ; if I had remained at home with my poor
papa, I should not now be in the midst of the fields
and obliged to be the watch-dog to a peasant's
house. Oh, if I could be born again ! But now it
is too late, and I must have patience ! "

Relieved by this little outburst, which came
straight from his heart, he went into the dog-kennel
and fell asleep.

XXII

Pinocchio discovers the robbers^ and as a reward for
his fidelity is set at liberty.

He had been sleeping heavily for about two hours
when, towards midnight, he was roused by a
whispering of strange voices that seemed to come
from the courtyard. Putting the point of his nose
out of the kennel he saw four little beasts with
dark fur, that looked like cats, standing consulting
together. But they were not cats ; they were
polecats — carnivorous little animals, especially greedy
for eggs and young chickens. One of the pole-
cats, leaving his companions, came to the opening
of the kennel and said in a low voice :

"Good evening, Melampo."

" My name is not Melampo," answered the puppet.

" Oh ! then who are you ? "

" I am Pinocchio."

" And what are you doing here ? "

"I am acting as watch-dog."

t28 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

"Then where is Melampo? Where is the old
dog who lived in this kennel ? "

"He died this morning."

" Is he dead ? Poor beast ! He was so good.
But judging you by your face I should say that you
were also a good dog."

"I beg your pardon, I am not a dog."

"Not a dog? Then what are you.f*"

" I am a puppet."

" And you are acting as watch-dog ? "

" That is only too true — as a punishment."

"Well, then, I will offer you the same conditions
that we made with the deceased Melampo, and I
am sure you will be satisfied with them."

" What are these conditions ? "

" One night in every week you are to permit us
to visit this poultry-yard as we have hitherto done,
and to carry off eight chickens. Of these chickens
seven are to be eaten by us, and one we will give ,
to you, on the express understanding, however, that]
you pretend to be asleep, and that it never enters
your head to bark and to wake the peasant."

" Did Melampo act in this manner ? " asked
Pinocchio.

" Certainly, and we were always on the best
terms with him. Sleep quietly, and rest assured
that before we go we will leave by the kennel a
beautiful chicken ready plucked for your breakfast

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 129

to-morrow. Have we understood each other
clearly?"

"Only too clearly! , . ." answered Pinocchio,
and he shook his head threateningly as much as to
say : " You shall hear of this shortly ! "

The four polecats thinking themselves safe

He barked exactly like a dog. Bow-wow-wow.

repaired to the poultry-yard, which was close to the
kennel, and having opened the wooden gate with
their teeth and claws, they slipped in one by one.
But they had only just passed through when they
heard the gate shut behind them with great
violence.

It was Pinocchio who had shut it ; and for
I

130 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

greater security he put a large stone against it to
keep it closed.

He then began to bark, and he barked exactly
like a watch-dog : bow-wow, bow-wow.

Hearing the barking the peasant jumped out of bed,
and taking his gun he came to the window and asked :

"What is the matter?"

" There are robbers ! " answered Pinocchio.

^' Where are they ? "

"In the poultry-yard."

"I will come down directly."

In fact, in less time than it takes to say Amen,
the peasant came down. He rushed into the
poultry-yard, caught the polecats, and having put
them into a sack, he said to them in a tone of great
satisfaction :

" At last you have fallen into my hands ! I might
punish you, but I am not so cruel. I will content my-
self instead by carrying you in the morning to the
innkeeper of the neighbouring village, who will skin
and cook you as hares with a sweet and sour sauce.
It is an honour that you don't deserve, but generous
people like me don't consider such trifles ! . . ."

He then approached Pinocchio and began to
caress him, and amongst other things he asked him :

"How did you manage to discover the four
thieves? To think that Melampo, my faithful
Melampo, never found out anything ! . . ."

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 131

The puppet might then have told him the whole
story; he might have informed him of the dis-
graceful conditions that had been made between the
dog and the polecats ; but he remembered that the
dog was dead, and he thought to himself:

"What is the good of accusing the dead? . . .
The dead are dead, and the best thing to be done is
to leave them in peace ! . . ."

"When the thieves got into the yard were you
asleep or awake?" the peasant went on to ask him.

"I was asleep," answered Pinocchio, "but the
polecats woke me with their chatter, and one of
them came to the kennel and said to me : ' If you
promise not to bark, and not to wake the master, we
will make you a present of a fine chicken ready
plucked! . . .' To think that they should have had
the audacity to make such a proposal to me ! For
although I am a puppet, possessing perhaps nearly
all the faults in the world, there is one that I
certainly will never be guilty of, that of making
terms with, and sharing in the gains of, dishonest
people ! "

"Well said, my boy ! " cried the peasant, slapping
him on the shoulder. "Such sentiments do you
honour : and as a proof of my gratitude I will at
once set you at liberty, and you may return home."

And he removed the dog's collar.

XXIII

Pinocchio mourns the death of the beautiful Child with
the blue hair. He then meets with a pigeon who
flies with him to the seashore.^ and there he
throws himself into the water to go to the
assistance of his father Geppetto.

As soon as Pinocchio was released from the heavy
and humiliating weight of the dog-collar he started
off across the fields, and never stopped until he had
reached the high road that led to the Fairy's house.
There he turned and looked down into the plain
beneath. He could see distinctly with his naked
eye the wood where he had been so unfortunate as
to meet with the Fox and the Cat ; he could see
amongst the trees the top of the Big Oak to which
he had been hung ; but although he looked in every
direction the little house belonging to the beautiful
Child with the blue hair was nowhere visible.

Seized with a sad presentiment he began to run
with all the strength he had left, and in a few

134 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

minutes he reached the field where the Httle white
house had once stood. But the little white house
was no longer there. He saw instead a marble
stone, on which were engraved these sad words :

HERE LIES

THE CHILD WITH THE BLUE HAIR

WHO DIED FROM SORROW

BECAUSE SHE WAS ABANDONED BY HER

LITTLE BROTHER PINOCCHIO.

I leave you to imagine the puppet's feelings when
he had with difficulty spelt out this epitaph. He
fell with his face on the ground and, covering the
tombstone with a thousand kisses, burst into an
agony of tears. He cried all night, and when
morning came he was still crying although he had
no tears left, and his sobs and lamentations were
so acute and heart-breaking that they roused the
echoes in the surrounding hills.

And as he wept he said :

" Oh, little Fairy, why did you die ? Why did
not I die instead of you, I who am so wicked, whilst
you were so good ? . . . And my papa ? Where
can he hef Oh, little Fairy, tell me where I can
find him, for I want to remain with him always and
never to leave him again, never again ! . . . Oh,
little Fairy, tell me that it is not true that

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 135

you are dead I . . . If you really love me . . .
if you really love your little brother, come to life
again . . . come to life as you were before ! . . .
Does it not grieve you to see me alone and
abandoned by everybody ? ... If assassins come
they will hang me again to the branch of a
tree . . . and then I should die indeed. What
do you imagine that I can do here alone in the
world ? Now that I have lost you and my papa,
who will give me food ? Where shall I go to sleep
at night? Who will make me a new jacket.^ Oh,
it would be better, a hundred times better, that
I should die also ! Yes, I want to die . . . ih !
ih! ih!"

And in his despair he tried to tear his hair ; but
his hair, being made of wood, he could not even
have the satisfaction of sticking his fingers into it.

Just then a large Pigeon flew over his head, and
stopping with distended wings called down to him
from a great height :

" Tell me, child, what are you doing there ? "

"Don't you see.'* I am crying! " said Pinocchio,
raising his head towards the voice and rubbing his
eyes with his jacket.

"Tell me," continued the Pigeon, "amongst
your companions, do you happen to know a puppet
who is called Pinocchio ? "

"Pinocchio.'' . . . Did you say Pinocchio?"

136 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

repeated the puppet, jumping quickly to his feet.
"I am Pinocchio! "

The Pigeon at this answer descended rapidly
to the ground. He was larger than a turkey.

" Do you also know Geppetto ? " he asked.

" If I know him ! He is my poor papa ! Has he
perhaps spoken to you of me ? Will you take me
to him ? Is he still alive ? Answer me for pity's
sake : is he still alive ? "

" I left him three days ago on the sea-shore."

"What was he doing .^ "

" He was building a little boat for himself, to
cross the ocean. For more than three months that
poor man has been going all round the world looking
for you. Not having succeeded in finding you he
has now taken it into his head to go to the distant
countries of the new world in search of you."

" How far is it from here to the shore ? " asked
Pinocchio breathlessly.

" More than six hundred miles."

" Six hundred miles ? Oh, beautiful Pigeon,
what a fine thing it would be to have your
wings ! . . ."

"If you wish to go, I will carry you there."

"How?"

" Astride on my back. Do you weigh much .?

" I weigh next to nothing. I am as light as a
feather."

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 137

And without waiting for more Pinocchio jumped
at once on the Pigeon's back, and putting a leg on
each side of him as men do on horseback, he
exclaimed joyfully :

" Gallop, gallop, my little horse, for I am anxious
to arrive quickly ! . . ."

The Pigeon took flight, and in a few minutes had
soared so high that they almost touched the clouds.
Finding himself at such an immense height the
puppet had the curiosity to turn and look down ;
but his head spun round, and he became so
frightened, that to save himself from the danger
of falling he wound his arms tightly round the neck
of his feathered steed.

They flew all day. Towards evening the Pigeon
said :

" I am very thirsty ! "

" And I am very hungry ! " rejoined Pinocchio.

" Let us stop at that dovecot for a few minutes ;
and then we will continue our journey that we may
reach the seashore by dawn to-morrow."

They went into a deserted dovecot, where they
found nothing but a basin full of water and a
basket full of vetch.

The puppet had never in his life been able to eat
vetch : according to him it made him sick and re-
volted him. That evening, however, he ate to
repletion, and when he had nearly emptied the

138 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

basket he turned to the Pigeon and said to
him :

"I never could have believed that vetch was so
good!"

"Be assured, my boy," replied the Pigeon, "that
•when hunger is real, and there is nothing else to
eat, even vetch becomes delicious. Hunger knows
neither caprice nor greediness."

Having quickly finished their little meal they
recommenced their journey and flew away. The
following morning they reached the seashore.

The Pigeon placed Pinocchio on the ground,
and not wishing to be troubled with thanks for
having done a good action, flew quickly away and
disappeared.

The shore was crowded with people who were
looking out to sea, shouting and gesticulating.

"What has happened .f"' asked Pinocchio of an
old woman.

" A poor father who has lost his son has gone
away in a boat to search for him on the other side
of the water, and to-day the sea is tempestuous and
the little boat is in danger of sinking."

"Where is the little boat?"

"It is out there in a line with my finger," said the
old woman, pointing to a little boat which, seen at
that distance, looked like a nutshell with a very
little man in it.

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 139

Pinocchio fixed his eyes on it, and after looking
attentively he gave a piercing scream, crying:

" It is my papa ! it is my papa ! "

The boat meanwhile, beaten by the fury of the
waves, at one moment disappeared in the trough

Standing on a high rock, kept calling to his father.

of the sea, and the next came again to the surface.
Pinocchio, standing on the top of a high rock, kept
calling to his father by name, and making every
kind of signal to him with his hands, his handker-
chief, and his cap.

And although he was so far off, Geppetto

I40 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

appeared to recognise his son, for he also took
off his cap and waved it, and tried by gestures to
make him understand that he would have returned
if it had been possible, but that the sea was so
tempestuous that he could not use his oars or
approach the shore.

Suddenly a tremendous wave rose and the boat
disappeared. They waited, hoping it would come
again to the surface, but it was seen no more.

" Poor man ! " said the fishermen who were
assembled on the shore, and murmuring a prayer
they turned to go home.

Just then they heard a desperate cry, and looking
back they saw a little boy who exclaimed, as he
jumped from a rock into the sea:

" I will save my papa ! "

PInocchio, being made of wood, floated easily and
he swam like a fish. At one moment they saw
him disappear under the water, carried down by
the fury of the waves ; and next he reappeared
struggling with a leg or an arm. At last they lost
sight of him, and he was seen no more.

"Poor boy!" said the fishermen who were
collected on the shore, and murmuring a prayer
they returned home.

XXIV

Pinocchio arrives at the island of the " Industrious
Bees^'' and finds the Fairy again.

Pinocchio, hoping to be in time to help his father,
swam the whole night.

And what a horrible night it was! The rain
came down in torrents, it hailed, the thunder was
frightful, and the flashes of lightning made it as
light as day.

Towards morning he saw a long strip of land
not far off. It was an island in the midst of the sea.

He tried his utmost to reach the shore: but
it was all in vain. The waves, racing and tumbling
over each other, knocked him about as if he had
been a stick or a wisp of straw. At last, fortunately
for him, a billow rolled up with such fury and
impetuosity that he was lifted up and thrown
violently far on to the sands.

He fell with such force that, as he struck the
ground, his ribs and all his joints cracked, but he
comforted himself, saying:

142 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

" This time also I have made a wonderful escape ! "

Little by little the sky cleared, the sun shone out
in all his splendour, and the sea became as quiet
and smooth as oil.

The puppet put his clothes in the sun to dry,
and began to look in every direction in hopes of
seeing on the vast expanse of water a little boat
with a little man in it. But although he looked and
looked, he could see nothing but the sky, and the
sea, and the sail of some ship, but so far away that
it seemed no bigger than a fly.

" If I only knew what this island was called ! "
he said to himself. " If I only knew whether it was
inhabited by civilised people — I mean by people who
have not got the bad habit of hanging boys to the
branches of the trees. But who can I ask ? who, if
there is nobody .'' . . ."

This idea of finding himself alone, alone, all
alone, in the midst of this great uninhabited country,
made him so melancholy that he was just beginning
to cry. But at that moment, at a short distance
from the shore, he saw a big fish swimming by ; it
was going quietly on its own business with its head
out of the water.

Not knowing its name the puppet called to it in a
loud voice to make himself heard :

" Eh, Sir fish, will you permit me a word with
you?"

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 143

" Two if you like," answered the fish, who was a
Dolphin, and so polite that few similar are to be
found in any sea in the world.

" Will you be kind enough to tell me if there are
villages in this island where it would be possible to-
obtain something to eat, without running the danger
of being eaten ? "

"Certainly there are," replied the Dolphin.
" Indeed you will find one at a short distance from
here."

" And what road must I take to go there ? "

" You must take that path to your left and follow
your nose. You cannot make a mistake."

" Will you tell me another thing ? You who"
swim about the sea all day and all night, have you
by chance met a little boat with my papa in it? "

" And who is your papa ? "

" He is the best papa in the world, whilst it would
be difficult to find a worse son than I am."

" During the terrible storm last night," answered
the Dolphin, " the little boat must have gone to the
bottom."

" And my papa? "

"• He must have been swallowed by the terrible
Dog-fish who for some days past has been spreading
devastation and ruin in our waters."

" Is this Dog-fish very big ? " asked Pinocchio^
who was already beginning to quake with fear.

144 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

" Big ! . . ." replied the Dolphin. " That you
may form some idea of his size, I need only tell you
that he is bigger than a five-storied house, and that
his mouth is so enormous and so deep that a railway
train with its smoking engine could pass easily down
his throat."

" Mercy upon us ! " exclaimed the terrified
puppet; and putting on his clothes with the
greatest haste he said to the Dolphin :

"Good-bye, Sir fish: excuse the trouble I have
given you, and many thanks for your politeness."

He then took the path that had been pointed out
to him and began to walk fast — so fast, indeed, that
he was almost running. And at the slightest noise
he turned to look behind him, fearing that he might
see the terrible Dog-fish with a railway train in its
mouth following him.

After a walk of half an hour he reached a little
village called "The village of the Industrious Bees."
The road was alive with people running here and
there to attend to their business : all were at work,
all had something to do. You could not have found
an idler or a vagabond, not even if you had searched
for him with a lighted lamp.

" Ah ! " said that lazy Pinocchio at once, " I see
that this village will never suit me ! I wasn't born
to work ! "

In the meanwhile he was tormented by hunger,

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 145

for he had eaten nothing for twenty-four hours —
not even vetch. What was he to do ?

There were only two ways by which he could
obtain food — either by asking for a little work, or
by begging for a halfpenny or for a mouthful of
bread.

He was ashamed to beg, for his father had always
preached to him that no one had a light to beg
except the aged and the infirm. The really poor in
this world, deserving of compassion and assistance,
are only those who from age or sickness are no
longer able to earn their own bread with the labour
of their hands. It is the duty of every one else to
work ; and if they will not work, so much the worse
for them if they suffer from hunger.

At that moment a man came down the road,
tired and panting for breath. He was dragging
alone, with fatigue and difficulty, two carts full of
charcoal.

Pinocchio, judging by his face that he was a kind
man, approached him, and casting down his eyes
with shame he said to him in a low voice :

" Would you have the charity to give me a
halfpenny, for I am dying of hunger?"

" You shall have not only a halfpenny," said the
man, "but I will give you twopence, provided that
you help me to drag home these two carts of
charcoal."

146 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

" I am surprised at you ! " answered the puppet
in a tone of offence. "Let me tell you that I am
not accustomed to do the work of a donkey : I have
never drawn a cart ! . . ."

"So much the better for you," answered the
man. " Then, my boy, if you are really dying of
hunger, eat two fine slices of your pride, and be
careful not to get an indigestion."

A few minutes afterwards a mason passed down
the road carrying on his shoulders a basket of
lime,

" Would you have the charity, good man, to give
a halfpenny to a poor boy who is yawning for want
of food?"

" Willingly," answered the man. " Come with
me and carry the lime, and instead of a halfpenny
[ will give you five."

"But the lime is heavy," objected Pinocchio,
" and I don't want to tire myself."'

" If you don't want to tire yourself, then, my
boy, amuse yourself with yawning, and much good
may it do you."

In less than half an hour twenty other people
went by ; and Pinocchio asked charity of them all,
but they all answered :

"Are you not ashamed to beg? Instead of
idling about the roads, go and look for a little work
and learn to earn your bread."

Amuse yourself with yawning, and much good may it do you.

148 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

At last a nice little woman carrying two cans of
water came by.

'' Will you let me drink a little water out of
your can ? " asked Pinocchio, who was burning
with thirst.

"Drink, my boy, if you wish it! " said the little
woman, setting down the two cans.

Pinocchio drank like a fish, and as he dried his
mouth he mumbled:

" I have quenched my thirst. If I could only
appease my hunger ! . ."

The good woman hearing these words said at
once :

" If you will help me to carry home these two
cans of water, 1 will give you a fine piece of
bread."

Pinocchio looked at the can and answered neither
yes nor no.

"And besides the bread you shall have a nice
dish of cauliflower dressed with oil and vinegar,"
added the good woman.

Pinocchio gave another look at the can, and
answered neither yes nor no.

"And after the cauliflower I will give you a
beautiful bonbon full of syrup."

The temptation of this hist dainty was so great
that Pinocchio could resist no longer, and with an
air of decision he said :

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 149

"I must have patience! I will carry the can to
your house."

The can was heavy, and the puppet not being
strong enough to carry it in his hand, had to resign
himself to carry it on his head.

When they reached the house the good little
woman made Pinocchio sit down at a small table
already laid, and she placed before him the bread,
the cauliflower, and the bonbon.

Pinocchio did not 3at, he devoured. His stomach
was like an apartment that had been left empty and
uninhabited for five months.

When his ravenous hunger was somewhat appeased
he raised his head to thank his benefactress ; but
he had no sooner looked at her than he gave a
prolonged Oh-h-h ! of astonishment, and continued
staring at her, with wide open eyes, his fork in the
air, and his mouth full of bread and cauliflower,
as if he had been bewitched.

"What has surprised you so much?" asked the
good woman, laughing.

" It is . . ." answered the puppet,. " it is . . . it
is . . . that you are like . . . that you remind me
. . . yes, yes, yes, the same voice . . , the same
eyes . . . the same hair . . . yes, yes, yes , . .
you also have blue hair ... as she had . . . Oh,
little Fairy ! . . . tell me that it is you, really you !
. . . Do not make me cry any more ! If you

I50 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

. I have cried so much, I have suffered so

knew
much,

And throwing himself at her feet on the floor,
Pinocchio embraced the knees of the mysterious
little woman and began to cry bitterly.

XXV

Pinocchio promises the Fairy to be good and studious^
for he is quite sick of being a puppet and wishes
to become an exemplary boy.

At first the good little woman maintained that she
was not the little Fairy with blue hair; but seeing
that she was found out, and not wishing to continue
the comedy any longer, she ended by making herself
known, and she said to Pinocchio:

"You little rogue! how did you ever discover
who I was ? "

" It was my great affection for you that told me."

"Do you remember? You left me a child, and
now that you have found me again I am a woman —
a woman almost old enough to be your mamma."

"I am delighted at that, for now, instead of call-
ing you little sister, I will call you mamma. I have
wished for such a long time to have a mamma like
other boys ! . . . But how did you manage to grow
so fast .? ''

«5«

152 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

"That is a secret."

" Teach it to me, for I should also like to grow.
Don't you see.^ I always remain no bigger than a
ninepin,"

"But you cannot grow," replied the Fairy.

"Why?"

" Because puppets never grow. They are born
puppets, live puppets, and die puppets."

" Oh, I am sick of being a puppet ! " cried
Pinocchio, giving himself a slap. "It is time
that I became a man. ..."

" And you will become one, if you know how to
deserve it. . . ."

"Not really? And what can I do to deserve
it?"

"A very easy thing: by learning to be a good
boy."

" And you think I am not ? "

"You are quite the contrary. Good boys are
obedient, and you. . . ."

" And I never obey."

" Good boys like to learn and to work, and
you. . . .

"And I instead lead an idle vagabond life the
year through."

" Good boys always speak the truth. . . ."

" And I always tell lies."

" Good boys go willingly to school. . . ."

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 153

"And school gives me pain all over my body.
But from to-day I will change my life."

'• Do you promise me ? "

" I promise you, I will become a good little
boy, and I will be the consolation of my
papa. . . . Where is my poor papa at this
moment ^ "

" I do not know."

" Shall I ever have the happiness of seeing him
again and kissing him ? "

" I think so; indeed I am sure of it."

At this answer Pinocchio was so delighted that
he took the Fairy's hands and began to kiss them
with such fervour that he seemed beside himself
Then raising his face and looking at her lovingly, he
asked :

"Tell me, little mamma: then it was not true
that you were dead ? "

"It seems not," said the Fairy, smiling.

"If you only knew the sorrow I felt and the
tightening of my throat when I re4d, ' here
lies. . . .'"

" I know it, and it is on that account that I have
forgiven you. I saw from the sincerity of your
grief that you had a good heart ; and when boys
have good hearts, even if they are scamps and have
got bad habits, there is always something to hope
for: that is, there is always hope that they will

154 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

turn to better ways. That is why I came to look for
you here. I will be your mamma. . . ."

"Oh, how delightful!" shouted Pinocchio, jump-
ing for joy.

"You must obey me and do everything that I
bid you."

" Willingly, willingly, willingly ! "

" To-morrow," rejoined the Fairy, " you will begin
to go to school."

Pinocchio became at once a little less joyful.

" Then you must choose an art, or a trade, accord-
ing to your own wishes."

Pinocchio became very grave.

" What are you muttering between your teeth ? "
asked the Fairy in an angry voice.

"I was saying," moaned the puppet in a low
voice, " that it seemed to me too late for me to go
to school now. . . ."

" No, sir. Keep it in mind that it is never too
late to learn and to instruct ourselves."

" But I do not wish to follow either an art or a
trade."

"Why?"

"Because it tires me to work."

"My boy," said the Fairy, "those who talk in
that way end almost always either in prison or in
the hospital. Let me tell you that every man,
whether he is born rich or poor, is obliged to do

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 155

something in this world — to occupy himself, to
work. Woe to those who lead slothful lives.
Sloth is a dreadful illness and must be cured at once,
in childhood. If not, when we are old it can never
be cured."

Pinocchio was touched by these words, and lifting
his head quickly he said to the Fairy :

''I will study, I will work, 1 will do all that you
tell me, for indeed I have become weary of being a
puppet, and I wish at any price to become a boy.
You promised me that I should, did you not ? "

" I did promise you, and it now depends upon
yourself."

XXVI

Pinoccbio accompanies his schoolfellows to the seashore
to see the terrible Dog-fish.

The following day Pinocchio went to the govern-
ment school.

Imagine the delight of all the little rogues when
they saw a puppet walk into their school ! They
set up a roar of laughter that never ended. They
played him all sorts of tricks. One boy carried off
his cap, another pulled his jacket behind ; one tried
to give him a pair of inky mustachios just under his
nose, and another attempted to tie strings to his feet
and hands to make him dance.

For a short time Pinocchio pretended not to care
and got on as well as he could ; but at last, losing
all patience, he turned to those who were teasing
him most and making game of him, and said to them,
looking very angry :

" Beware, boys : I am not come here to be your

»S7

158 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

buffoon. I respect others, and I intend to be
respected."

" Well said, boaster ! You have spoken like a
book I " howled the young rascals, convulsed with
mad laughter ; and one of them, more impertinent
than the others, stretched out his hand intending to
seize the puppet by the end of his nose.

They played him all sorts of tricks.

But he was not in time, for Pinocchio stuck his
leg out from under the table and gave him a great
kick on his shins.

" Oh, what hard feet ! " roared the boy, rubbing
the bruise that the puppet had given him.

" And what elbows I . . . even harder than his
feet ! . . ." said another, who for his rude tricks
had received a blow in the stomach.

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 159

But nevertheless the kick and the blow acquired
at once for Pinocchio the sympathy and the esteem
of all the boys in the school. They all made friends
with him and liked him heartily.

And even the master praised him, for he found
him attentive, studious, and intelligent — always the
first to come to school, and the last to leave when
school was over.

But he had one fault : he made too many friends ;
and amongst them were several young rascals well
known for their dislike to study and love of mischief.

The master warned him every day, and even the
good Fairy never failed to tell him, and to repeat
constantly :

" Take care, Pinocchio I Those bad schoolfellows
of yours will end sooner or later by making you lose
all love of study, and perhaps even they may bring
upon you some great misfortune."

" There is no fear of that ! " answered the puppet^
shrugging his shoulders and touching his forehead as
much as to say : " There is so much sense here ! "

Now it happened that one fine day, as he was on
his way to school, he met several of his usual com-
panions who, coming up to him, asked :

" Have you heard the great news ? "

" No."

" In the sea near here a Dog-fish has appeared as
big as a mountain."

i6o THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

"Not really ? Can it be the same Dog-fish that
was there when my poor papa was drowned ? "

" We are going to the shore to see him. Will
you come with us ? "

" No ; I am going to school."

" What matters school ^ We can go to school to-
morrow. Whether we have a lesson more or a lesson
less, we shall always remain the same donkeys."

"But what will the master say-f*"

" The master may say what he likes. He is paid
on purpose to grumble all day."

"And my mamma? . . ."

" Mammas know nothing," answered those bad
little boys.

" Do you know what I will do ? " said Pinocchio.
*'I have reasons for wishing to see the Dog-fish,
but I will go and see him when school is over."

" Poor donkey ! " exclaimed one of the number.
*'Do you suppose that a fish of that size will wait
your convenience ? As soon as he is tired of being
here he will start for another place, and then it will
be too late."

" How long does it take from here to the shore .? "
asked the puppet.

"We can be there and back in an hour."

"Then away! " shouted Pinocchio, "and he who
runs fastest is the best ! "

Having thus given the signal to start, the boys,

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 16 1

with their books and copy-books under their arms,
rushed off across the fields, and Pinocchio was
always the first — he seemed to have wings to his
feet.

From time to time he turned to jeer at his
companions, who were some distance behind, and
seeing them panting for breath, covered with dust
and their tongues hanging out of their mouths, he
laughed heartily. The unfortunate boy little knew
what terrors and horrible disasters he was going to
meet with ! . . .

XXVII

Great fight between Finocchio and his companions.
One of them is wounded, and Finocchio is arrested
by the gendarmes.

When he arrived on the shore Finocchio looked
out to sea ; but he saw no Dog-fish. The sea was
as smooth as a great crystal mirror.

"Where is the Dog-fish.'*" he asked, turning to
his companions.

"He must have gone to have his breakfast,'^
said one of them, laughing.

" Or he has thrown himseh on to his bed to
have a little nap," added another, laughing still
louder.

From their absurd answers and silly laughter
Finocchio perceived that his companions had been-

making a fool of him, in inducing him to believe-

163

wmm

164 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

a tale with no truth in it. Taking it very badly he
said to them angrily :

" And now may I ask what fun you could find in
deceiving me with the story of the Dog-fish ? "

"Oh, it was great fun!" answered the little
rascals in chorus.

"And in what did it consist?"

In making you miss school, and persuading you to
come with us. Are you not ashamed of being
always so punctual and so diligent with your lessons?
Are you not ashamed of studying so hard ? "

" And if I study hard what concern is it of yours ? "

"It concerns us excessively, because it makes us
appear in a bad light to the master."

"Why?"

" Because boys who study make those who, like
us, have no wish to learn seem worse by comparison.
And that is too bad. We too have our pride ! . . ."

"Then what must I do to please you?"

" You must follow our example and hate school,
lessons, and the master — our three greatest enemies."

" And if I wish to continue my studies ? "

" In that case we will have nothing more to do
with you, and at the fu-st opportunity we will make
you pay for it."

"Really," said the puppet, shaking his head,
^' you make me inclined to laugh."

" Eh, Pinocchio ! " shouted the biggest of the

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 165

boys, confronting him. " None ot your superior
airs : don't come here to crow over us ! . . . for if
you are not afraid of us, we are not afraid of you.
Remember that you are one against seven of us."

" Seven, Hke the seven deadly sins," said Pinocchio
with a shout of laughter,
p "Listen to him I He has insulted us all! He
called us the seven deadly sins! . . ."

" Pinocchio ! beg pardon ... or it will be the
worse for you !...'"
I "Cuckoo!" sang the puppet, putting his fore-
finger to the end of his nose scoffingly.

''Pinocchio! it will end badly ! . . ."

"Cuckoo!"

" You will get as many blows as a donkey ! . . ."

"Cuckoo!"

" You will return home with a broken nose ! . . ."

" Cuckoo ! "

" Ah, you shall have the cuckoo from me I " said
the most courageous of the boys. "Take that to
begin with, and keep it for your supper to-night."

And so saying he gave him a blow on the head
with his fist.

But it was give and take ; for the puppet, as was
to be expected, immediately returned the blow, and
the fight in a moment became general and desperate.

Pinocchio, although he was one alone, defended
himself like a hero. He used his feet, which were

1 66 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

of the hardest wood, to such purpose that he kept

his enemies at a respectful distance. Wherever

they touched they left a bruise by way of reminder.

The boys, becoming furious at not being able to

Gave him a blow on the head with his fist.

measure themselves hand to hand with the puppet,
had recourse to other weapons. Loosening their
satchels they commenced throwing their school-
books at him — grammars, dictionaries, spelling-
books, geography books, and other scholastic works.

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 167

But Pinocchio was quick and had sharp eyes, and
always managed to duck in time, so that the books
passed over his head and all fell into the sea.

Imagine the astonishment of the fish ! Thinking
that the books were something to eat they all
arrived in shoals, but having tasted a page or two,
or a frontispiece, they spat it quickly out and made
a wry face that seemed to say : " It isn't food for
us ; we are accustomed to something much better 1 "

The battle meantime had become fiercer than
ever, when a big crab, who had come out of the
water and had climbed slowly up on to the shore,
called out in a hoarse voice that sounded like a
trumpet with a bad cold :

"Have done with that, you young ruffians, for
you are nothing else ! These hand-to-hand fights
between boys seldom finish well. Some disaster is
sure to happen ! . . ."

Poor crab ! He might as well have preached to
the wind. Even that young rascal Pinocchio,
turning round, looked at him mockingly and said
rudely :

" Hold your tongue, you tiresome crab ! You
had better suck some liquorice lozenges to cure
that cold in your throat. Or better still, go to bed
and try to get a reaction ! "

Just then the boys, who had no more books of
their own to throw, spied at a little distance the

1 68 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

satchel that belonged to Pinocchio, and took
possession of it in less time than it takes to
tell.

Amongst the books there was one bound in
strong cardboard with the back and points of parch-
ment. It was a Treatise on Arithmetic. I leave
you to imagine if it was big or not !

One of the boys seized this volume, and aiming
at Pinocchio's head threw it at him with all the
force he could muster. But instead of hitting the
puppet it struck one of his companions on the
temple, who, turning as white as a sheet, said only:

" Oh, mother, help ... I am dying ! . . ." and
fell his whole length on the sand. Thinking he
was dead the terrified boys ran off as hard as their
legs could carry them, and in a few minutes they
were out of sight.

But Pinocchio remained. Although from grief
and fright he was more dead than alive, nevertheless
he ran and soaked his handkerchief in the sea and
began to bathe the temples of his poor schoolfellow.
Crying bitterly in his despair he kept calling him
by name and saying to him :

" Eugene ! . . . my poor Eugene ! . . . open
your eyes and look at me ! . . . why do you not
answer ^ I did not do it, indeed it was not I that
hurt you so ! believe me, it was not ! Open your
eyes, Eugene. ... If you keep your eyes shut I

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 169

shall die too. . . . Oh ! what shall I do ? how shall
I ever return home? How can I ever have the
courage to go back to my good mamma? What
will become of me ? . . . Where can I fly to ? . . .
Oh ! how much better it would have been, a
thousand times better, if I had only gone to
school ! . . . Why did I listen to my companions ?
they have been my ruin. The master said to me,
and my mamma repeated it often : "Beware of bad
companions ! " But I am obstinate ... a wilful
fool. ... I let them talk and then I always take
my own way ! and I have to sufler for it. . . .
And so, ever since I have been in the world,
I have never had a happy quarter of an hour.
Oh dear! what will become of me, what will
become of me, what will become of me ? . . ."

And Pinocchio began to cry and sob, and to
strike his head with his fists, and to call poor
Eugene by his name. Suddenly he heard the sound
of approaching footsteps.

He turned and saw two carabineers.

" What are you doing there lying on the
ground ? " they asked Pinocchio.

" I am helping my schoolfellow."

" Has he been hurt ? "

" So it seems."

" Hurt indeed ! " said one of the carabineers,
stooping down and examining Eugene closely.

ijo THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

"This boy has been wounded in the temple. Who
wounded him ? "

" Not I," stammered the puppet breathlessly.

"If it was not you, who then did it?"

"Not I," repeated Pinocchio.

" And with what was he wounded ? "

" With this book." And the puppet picked up
from the ground the Treatise on Arithmetic, bound
in cardboard and parchment, and showed it to the
carabineer.

"And to whom does this book belong? "

" To me."

"That is enough: nothing more is wanted.
Get up and come with us at once."

" But I . . ."

" Come along with us ! . . ."

"But I am innocent. . . ."

" Come along with us ! "

Before they left, the carabineers called some
fishermen, who were passing at that moment near
the shore in their boat, and said to them :

"We give this boy who has been wounded in the
head into your charge. Carry him to your house
and nurse him. To-morrow we will come and
see him."

They then turned to Pinocchio, and having
placed him between them they said to him in a
commanding voice :

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 171

"Forward! and walk quickly! or it will be the
worse for you."

Without requiring it to be repeated, the puppet
set out along the road leading to the village. But
the poor little devil hardly knew where he was.
He thought he must be dreaming, and what a
dreadful dream ! He was beside himself. He saw
double : his legs shook : his tongue clung to the
roof of his mouth, and he could not utter a word.
And yet in the midst of his stupefaction and apathy
his heart was pierced by a cruel thorn — the thouglit
that he would have to pass under the windows of
the good Fairy's house between the carabineers.
He would rather have died.

They had already reached the village when a
gust of wind blew Pinocchio's cap off his head and
carried it ten yards off.

" Will you permit me," said the puppet to the
carbineers, " to go and get my cap .? "

" Go, then ; but be quick about it."

The puppet went and picked up his cap . .
but instead of putting it on his head he took it
between his teeth and began to run as hard as he
could towards the seashore.

The carabineers, thinking it would be difficult to
overtake him, sent after him a large mastiff who had
won the first prizes at all the dog-races. Pinocchio
ran, but the dog ran faster. The people came to their

172 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

windows and crowded into the street in their
anxiety to see the end of the desperate race. But
they could not satisfy their curiosity, for Pinocchio
and the dog raised such clouds of dust that in a
few minutes nothing could be seen of either of
them.

XXVIII

Pinocchio is in danger of being fried in a frying-pan
like a fish.

There came a moment in this desperate race —
a terrible moment when Pinocchio thought himself
lost : for you must know that Alidoro — for so the
mastiff was called — had run so swiftly that he had
nearly come up with him.

The puppet could hear the panting of the
dreadful beast close behind him ; there was not
a hand's breadth between them, he could even
feel the dog's hot breath.

Fortunately the shore was close and the sea but
a few steps off.

As soon as he reached the sands the puppet
made a wonderful leap — a frog could have done
no better — and plunged into the water.

Alidoro, on the contrary, wished to stop himself;
but carried away by the impetus of the race he
also went into the sea. The unfortunate dog could

174 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

not swim, but he made great efforts to keep himself
afloat with his paws ; but the more he struggled
the farther he sank head downwards under the
water.

When he rose to the surface again his eyes were
rolling with terror, and he barked out :

" I am drowning ! I am drowning ! "

" Drown ! " shouted Pinocchio from a distance,
seeing himself safe from all danger.

" Help me, dear Pinocchio ! . . . save me from
death! ..."

At that agonising cry the puppet, who had in
reality an excellent heart, was moved with com-
passion, and turning to the dog he said :

" But if I save your life, will you promise to give
me no further annoyance, and not to run after me ? "

" I promise ! I promise ! Be quick, for pity's
sake, for if you delay another half-minute I shall
be dead."

Pinocchio hesitated : but remembering that his
father had often told him that a good action is
never lost, he swam to Alidoro, and taking hold
of his tail with both hands brought him safe and
sound on to the dry sand of the beach.

The poor dog could not stand. He had drunk,
against his will, so much salt water that he was hke
a balloon. The puppet, however, not wishing to
trust him too far, thought it more prudent to j ump

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 175

again into the water. When he had swum some
distance from the shore he called out to the friend
he had rescued :

" Good-bye, Alidoro ; a good journey to you,
and take my compliments to all at home."

" Good-bye, Pinocchio," answered the dog ; " a
thousand thanks for having saved my life. You
have done me a great service, and in this world
what is given is returned. If an occasion offers I
shall not forget it."

Pinocchio swam on, keeping always near the
hind. At last he thought that he had reached a
safe place. Giving a look along the shore he saw
amongst the rocks a kind of cave from which a
cloud of smoke was ascending.

" In that cave," he said to himself, " there must be
a fire. So much the better. I will go and dry and
warm myself, and then? . . . and then we shall see."

Having taken this resolution he approached the
rocks ; but as he was going to climb up, he felt
something under the water that rose higher and
higher and carried him into the air. He tried to
escape, but it was too late, for to his extreme
surprise he found himself enclosed in a great net,
together with a swarm of fish of every size and
shape, who were flapping and struggling like so
many despairing souls.

At the same moment a fisherman came out of the

176 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

cave; he was so ugly, so horribly ugly, that he looked
like a sea monster. Instead of hair his head was
covered with a thick bush of green grass, his skin was
green, his eyes were green, his long beard that came
down to the ground was also green. He had the
appearance of an immense lizard standing on its
hind-paws.

When the fisherman had drawn his net out of the
5ea, he exclaimed with great satisfaction :

" Thank Heaven ! Again to-day I shall have a
splendid feast of fish ! "

" What a mercy that I am not a fish ! " said
Pinocchio to himself, regaining a little courage.

The net full of fish was carried into the cave,
which was dark and smoky. In the middle of the
cave a large frying-pan full of oil was frying, and
sending out a smell of mushrooms that was
suffocating.

" Now we will see what fish we have taken!"
said the green fisherman ; and putting into the net
an enormous hand, so out of all proportion that it
looked like a baker's shovel, he pulled out a handful
of mullet.

"These mullet are good!" he said, looking at
them and smelling them complacently. And after
he had smelt them he threw them into a pan with-
out water.

He repeated the same operation many times ; and

What species of fish is this ? "

178 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

as he drew out the fish, his mouth watered and he
said, chuckling to himself:

"What good whiting! ..."

"What exquisite sardines ! . . ."

"These soles are delicious! . . "

" And these crabs excellent ! . . ."

" What dear little anchovies ! . . ."

I need not tell you that the whiting, the sardines,
the soles, the crabs, and the anchovies were all
thrown promiscuously into the pan to keep company
with the mullet.

The last to remain in the net was Pinocchio.

No sooner had the fisherman taken him out than
he opened his big green eyes with astonishment,
and cried, half-frightened :

"What species of fish is this.'' Fish of this kind
1 never remember to have eaten ! "

And he looked at him again attentively, and
having examined him well all over, he ended by
saying :

" I know : he must be a craw-fish."

Pinocchio, mortified at being mistaken for a craw-
fish, said in an angry voice :

" A craw-fish indeed ! do you take me for a
craw-fish ? what treatment ! Let me tell you that I
am a puppet."

"A puppet.'"' replied the fisherman. "To tell
the truth, a puppet is quite a new fish for me.

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 179

All the better ! I shall eat you with greater
pleasure."

" Eat me ! but will you understand that I am not
a fish ? Do you hear that I talk and reason as you
do?"

" That is quite true," said the fisherman ; " and as
I see that you are a fish possessed of the talent of
talking and reasoning as I do, I will treat you with
all the attention that is your due."

"And this attention.'' . . ."

"In token of my friendship and particular regard,
I will leave you the choice of how you would like to
be cooked. Would you like to be fried in the
frying-pan, or would you prefer to be stewed with
tomato sauce ? "

"To tell the truth," answered Pinocchio, "if I
am to choose, I should prefer to be set at liberty
and to return home."

"You are joking! Do you imagine that I
would lose the opportunity of tasting such a rare
fish .'* It is not every day, I assure you, that a
puppet fish is caught in these waters. Leave it to
me. I will fry you in the frying-pan with the
other fish, and you will be quite satisfied. It is
always consolation to be fried in company."

At this speech the unhappy Pinocchio began to
cry and scream and to implore for mercy ; and he
said, sobbing : " How much better it would have

i8o THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

been if I had gone to school ! . . . I would listen
to my companions and now I am paying for it ! Ih !
, . . Ih ! . . . Ih ! . . ."

And he wriggled like an eel, and made indescrib-
able efforts to slip out of the clutches of the green
fisherman. But it was useless : the fisherman took
a long strip of rush, and having bound his hands
and feet as if he had been a sausage, he threw him
into the pan with the other fish.

He then fetched a wooden bowl full of flour and
began to flour them each in turn, and as soon as
they were ready he threw them into the frying-pan.

The first to dance in the boiling oil were the poor
whiting ; the crabs followed, then the sardines, then
the soles, then the anchovies, and at last it was
Pinocchio's turn. Seeing himself so near death, and
such a horrible death, he was so frightened, and
trembled so violently, that he had neither voice nor
breath left for further entreaties.

But the poor boy implored with his eyes ! The
green fisherman, however, without caring in the
least, plunged him five or six times in the flour, until
he was white from head to foot, and looked like a
puppet made of plaster.

He then took him by the head, and. . . .

XXIX

He returns to the Fairy's house. She promises him
that the following day he shall cease to be a
puppet and shall become a boy. Grand breakfast
of coffee and milk to celebrate this great event.

Just as the fisherman was on the point of throwing
Pinocchio into the frying-pan a large dog entered
the cave, enticed there by the strung and savoury
odour of fried fish.

" Get out ! " shouted the fisherman threateningly,
holding the floured puppet in his hand.

But the poor dog, who was as hungry as a
wolf, whined and wagged his tail as much as to
say :

" Give me a mouthful of fish and I will leave you
in peace."

"Get out, I tell you.'"' repeated the fisherman,
and he stretched out his leg to give him a
kick.

But the dog, who, when he was really hungry,

1 82 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

would not stand trifling, turned upon him, growling
and showing his terrible tusks.

At that moment a little feeble voice was heard in
the cave saying entreatingly :

" Save me, Alidoro ! If you do not save me I shall
be fried ! . . ."

The dog recognised Pinocchio's voice, and to his
extreme surprise perceived that it proceeded from
the floured bundle that the fisherman held in his
hand.

So what do you think he did ? He made a spring,
seized the bundle in his mouth, and holding it gently
between his teeth he rushed out of the cave and was
gone like a flash of lightning.

The fisherman, furious at seeing a fish he was so
anxious to eat snatched from him, ran after the dog ;
but he had not gone many steps when he was taken
with a fit of coughing and had to give it up.

Alidoro, when he had reached the path that led
to the village, stopped, and put his friend Pinocchio
gently on the ground.

" How much I have to thank you for ! " said the
puppet.

" There is no necessity," replied the dog, " You
saved me and I have now returned it. You know
that we must all help each other in this world."

" But how came you to come to the cave ^ "

" I was lying on the shore more dead than alive

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 183

when the wind brought to me the smell of fried fish.
The smell excited my appetite, and I followed it up.
If I had arrived a second later. . . ."

" Do not mention it ! " groaned Pinocchio, who

Seized the bundle in his mouth.

was still trembling with fright. " Do not mention
it ! If you had arrived a second later I should by
this time have been fried, eaten, and digested.
Brrr ! ... it makes me shudder only to think of

Alidoro, laughing, extended his right paw to the

i84 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

puppet, who shook it heartily in token of great
friendship, and they then separated.

The dog took the road home ; and Pinocchio, left
alone, went to a cottage not far off, and said to a
little old man who was warming himself in the sun :

" Tell me, good man, do you know anything of a
poor boy called Eugene who was wounded in the
head! . . ."

"The boy was brought by some fishermen to this
cottage, and now. . , ."

" And now he is dead ! . . ." interrupted Pin-
occhio with great sorrow.

" No, he is alive, and has returned to his home."

" Not really ? not really ? " cried the puppet,
dancing with delight. " Then the wound was not
serious ."^ . . ."

" It might have been very serious and even fatal,"
answered the little old man, " for they threw a thick
book bound in cardboard at his head."

"And who threw it at him.''"

" One of his schoolfellows, a certain Pin-
occhio. ..."

"And who is this Pinocchio.^" asked the puppet,
pretending ignorance.

" They say that he is a bad boy, a vagabond, a
regular good-for-nothing. ..."

" Calumnies ! all calumnies ! "

" Do you know this Pinocchio ? "

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 185

" By sight ! " answered the puppet.

" And what is your opinion of him ? " asked the
little man.

" He seems to me to be a very good boy, anxious
to learn, and obedient and affectionate to his father
and family. . . ."

Whilst the puppet was firing off all these lies,
he touched his nose and perceived that it had
lengthened more than a hand. Very much alarmed
he began to cry out :

"Don't believe, good man, what I have been
telling you. I know Pinocchio very well, and 1
can assure you that he is really a very bad boy,
disobedient and idle, who instead of going to school
runs off with his companions to amuse himself."

He had hardly finished speaking when his nose
became shorter and returned to the same size that
it was before.

"And why are you all covered with white.'"*
asked the old man suddenly.

"I will tell you. . . . Without observing it I
rubbed myself against a wall which had been freshly
whitewashed," answered the puppet, ashamed to
confess that he had been floured like a fish prepared
for the frying-pan.

"And what have you done with your jacket,
your trousers, and your cap ? '

" I met with robbers who took them from me.

1 86 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

Tell me, good old man, could you perhaps give me
some clothes to return home in ? "

" My boy, as to clothes, I have nothing but a
little sack in which I keep beans. If you wish for
it, take it ; there it is."

Pinocchio did not wait to be told twice. He
took the sack at once, and with a pair of scissors
he cut a hole at the end and at each side, and
put it on like a shirt. And with this slight clothing
he set off for the village.

But as he went he did not feel at all comfortable
— so little so, indeed, that for a step forward he
took another backwards, and he said, talking to
himself:

"How shall I ever present myself to my good
little Fairy ? What will she say when she sees
me ? . . . Will she forgive me this second escapade ?
... I bet that she will not forgive me I Oh, I
am sure that she will not forgive me ! . . . And it
serves me right, for I am a rascal. I am always
promising to correct myself, and I never keep my
word! . . ."

When he reached the village it was night and
very dark. A storm had come on, and as the rain
was coming down in torrents he went straight to
the Fairy's house, resolved to knock at the door,
and hoping to be let in.

But when he was there his courage failed him,

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 187

and instead of knocking he ran away some twenty
paces. He returned to the door a second time,
but could not make up his mind ; he came back
a third time, still he dared not ; the fourth time he
laid hold of the knocker and, trembling, gave a little
knock.

He waited and waited. At last, after half an
hour had passed, a window on the top floor was
opened — the house was four stories high — -and
Pinocchio saw a big Snail with a lighted candle on
her head looking out. She called to him :

" Who is there at this hour.?"

"Is the Fairy at home.'"' asked the puppet.

"The Fairy is asleep and must not be awakened;
but who are you ? "

"It is II"

" Who is I .? "

"Pinocchio."

" And who is Pinocchio ? "

" The puppet who lives in the Fairy's house."

"Ah, I understand!" said the Snail. "Wait
for me there. I will come down and open the door
directly."

" Be quick, for pity's sake, for I am dying of
kold."

'' My boy, I am a snail, and snails are never in

hurry."

An hour passed, and then two, and the door

i88 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

was not opened. Pinocchio, who was wet through,
and trembling from cold and fear, at last took
courage and knocked again, and this time he knocked
louder.

At this second knock a window on the lower
story opened, and the same Snail appeared at it.

"Beautiful little Snail," cried Pinocchio from the
street, " I have been waiting for two hours ! And
two hours on such a bad night seem longer than
two years. Be quick, for pity's sake."

"My boy," answered the calm, phlegmatic little
animal — "my boy, I am a snail, and snails are never!
in a hurry,"

And the window was shut again.

Shortly afterwards midnight struck ; then one
o'clock, then two o'clock, and the door remained
still closed.

Pinocchio at last, losing all patience, seized
the knocker in a rage, intending to give a blow
that would resound through the house. But the
knocker, which was iron, turned suddenly into an
eel, and slipping out of his hands disappeared in
the stream of water that ran down the middle of
the street.

"Ah! is that it?" shouted Pinocchio, blind with
rage. " Since the knocker has disappeared, I will
kick instead with all my might."

And drawing a little back he gave a tremendous

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 189

cick against the house door. The blow was indeed
so violent that his foot went through the wood and
stuck ; and when he tried to draw it back again it
was trouble thrown away, for it remained fixed like
a nail that has been hammered down.

Think of poor Pinocchio ! He was obliged to
spend the remainder of the night with one foot on
the ground and the other in the air.

The following morning at daybreak the door was
at last opened. That clever little Snail had taken
only nine hours to come down from the fourth story
to the house door. It is evident that her exertions
must have been great.

" What are you doing with your foot stuck in
the door ? " she asked the puppet, laughing.

"It was an accident. Do try, beautiful little
Snail, if you cannot release me from this torture."

" My boy, that is the work of a carpenter, and I
have never been a carpenter."

" Beg the Fairy from me ! . . ."

" The Fairy is asleep and must not be wakened."

'• But what do you suppose that 1 can do all day
ailed to this door ? "

" Amuse yourself by counting the ants that pass
down the street."

'' Bring me at least something to eat, for I am
quite exhausted."

" At once," said the Snail.

I90 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

In fact, after three hours and a half she returned
to Pinocchio carrying a silver tray on her head.
The tray contained a loaf of bread, a roast chicken,
and four ripe apricots.

" Here is the breakfast that the Fairy has sent
you," said the Snail.

The puppet felt very much comforted at the sight

The Snail returned carrying a silver tray.

of these good things. But when he began to eat
them, what was his disgust at making the discovery
that the bread was plaster, the chicken cardboard^
and the four apricots painted alabaster.

He wanted to cry. In his desperation he tried to
throw away the tray and all that was on it ; but
instead, either from grief or exhaustion, he fainted
away.

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 191

When he came to himself he founJ that he was
lying on a sofa, and the Fairy was beside him.

"I will pardon you once more," the Fairy said, "but
woe to you if you behave badly a third time ! . . ."

Pinocchio promised, and swore that he would
study, and that for the future he would always
conduct himself well.

And he kept his word for the remainder of the
year. Indeed, at the examinations before the
holidays, he had the honour of being the first in
the school, and his behaviour in general was so
satisfactory and praiseworthy that the Fairy was
very much pleased, and said to him :

"To-morrow your wish shall be gratified."

" And that is ? "

" To-morrow you shall cease to be a wooden
puppet, and you shall become a boy."

No one who had not witnessed it could ever
imagine Pinocchio's joy at this long-sighed-for good
fortune. All his schoolfellows were to be invited
for the following day to a grand breakfast at the
Fairy's house, that they might celebrate together
the great event. The Fairy had prepared two
hundred cups of coffee and milk, and four hundred
oils cut and buttered on each side. The day
promised to be most happy and delightful, but . . .

Unfortunately in the lives of puppets there is
always a " but " that spoils everything.

XXX

Pinocchio^ instead of becoming a boy^ starts secretly
with his friend Candleivick for the " hand of
Boobies.'"'

PiNOCCHio, as was natural, asked the Fairy's per-
mission to go round the town to make the invitations;
and the Fairy said to him :

" Go if you like and invite your companions for
the breakfast to-morrow, but remember to return
home before dark. Have you understood ? "

" I promise to be back in an hour," answered the
puppet.

" Take care, Pinocchio ! Boys are always very
ready to promise ; but generally they are little given
to keep their word."

"But I am not like other boys. When I say a
thing, I do it."

" We shall see. If you are disobedient, so much
the worse for you."

"Why?"

N »M

194 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

" Because boys who do not listen to the advice of
those who know more than they do always meet
with some misfortune or other."

" I have experienced that," said Pinocchio.
"But I shall never make that mistake again."

" We shall see if that is true."

Without saying more the puppet took leave of his
good Fairy, who was like a mamma to him, and
went out of the house singing and dancing.

In less than an hour all his friends were invited.
Some accepted at once heartily ; others at first
required pressing ; but when they heard that the
rolls to be eaten with the coffee were to be buttered
on both sides, they ended by saying :

" We will come also, to do you a pleasure."

Now I must tell you that amongst Pinocchio's
friends and schoofellows there was one that he
greatly preferred and was very fond of. This boy's
name was Romeo ; but he always went by the
nickname of Candlewick, because he was so thin,
straight, and bright like the new wick of a little
nightlight.

Candlewick was the laziest and the naughtiest
boy in the school ; but Pinocchio was devoted to
him. He had indeed gone at once to his house to
invite him to the breakfast, but he had not found
him. He returned a second time, but Candlewick
was not there. He went a third time, but it was in

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 195

vain. Where could he search for him? He looked
here, there, and everywhere, and at hist he saw him
hiding in the porch of a peasant's cottage.

"What are you doing there .f"' asked Pinocchio,
coming up to him.

" I am waiting for midnight, to start . . ."

" Why, where are you going ? "

"Very far, very far, very far away."

" And I have been three times to your house to
look for you."

"What did you want with me."*"

" Do you not know the great event .'' Have you
not heard of my good fortune ? "

"What is it?"

"To-morrow I cease to be a puppet, and I
become a boy hke you, and hke all the other boys."

" Much good may it do you."

" To-morrow, therefore, I expect you to breakfast
at my house."

"But when I tell you that I am going away
to-night."

" At what o'clock ? "

"In a short time."

"And where are you going?"

"lam going to live in a country . . . the most
delightful country in the world : a real land of
Cocagne ! . . ."

" And how is it called ?"

196 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

"It is called the 'Land of Boobies.' Why do
you not come too ? "

"I? No, never!"

"You are wrong, Pinocchio. Believe me, if you
do not come you will repent it. Where could you
find a better country for us boys ? There are no
schools there : there are no masters : there are no
books. In that delightful land nobody ever studies.
On Thursday there is never school ; and every week
consists of six Thursdays and one Sunday. Only
think, the autumn holidays begin on the 1st of
January and finish on the last day of December.
That is the country for me ! That is what all
civilised countries should be like ! . . ."

" But how are the days spent in the ' Land of
Boobies'?"

" They are spent in play and amusement from
morning till night. When night comes you go to
bed, and recommence the same life in the morning.
What do you think of it ?"

" Hum ! . . ." said Pinocchio ; and he shook his
head slightly as much as to say, " That is a life that
I also would willingly lead."

"Well, will you go with me? Yes or no?
Resolve quickly."

" No, no, no, and again no. I promised my good
Fairy to become a well-conducted boy, and I will
keep ray word. And as I see that the sun is setting

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 197

I must leave you at once and run away. Good-bye,
and a pleasant journey to you."

"Where are you rushing off to in such a
hurry?"

" Home. My good Fairy wishes me to be back
before dark."

" Wait another two minutes."

"It will make me too late."

" Only two minutes."

" And if the Fairy scolds me ? "

" Let her scold. When she has scolded well she
will hold her tongue," said that rascal Candlewick.

" And what are you going to do? Are you going
alone or with companions? "

"Alone? We shall be more than a hundred
boys."

"And do you make the journey on foot ? "

" A coach will pass by shortly which is to take me
to that happy country."

" What would I not give for the coach to pass by
■now! . . ."

" Why ? "

" That I might see you all start together."

"Stay here a little longer and you will see us."

"No, no, I must go home."

" Wait another two minutes."

" I have already delayed too long. The Fairy
rill be anxious about me."

198 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

" Poor Fairy ! Is she afraid that the bats
will eat you ? "

"But now," coQtinued Pinocchio, "are you
really certain that there are no schools in thai
country? ..."

" Not even the shadow of one."

"And no masters either? . . ."

" Not one."

" And no one is ever made to study ? "

" Never, never, never ! "

" What a delightful country ! " said Pinocchio,
his mouth watering. " What a delightful country!
I have never been there, but 1 can quite imagine
it . . ."

"Why will you not come also?"

"It is useless to tempt me. I promised my good
Fairy to become a sensible boy, and I will not break
my word."

" Good-bye, then, and give my compliments to all
the boys at the gymnasiums, and also to those of the
lyceums, if you meet them in the street."

" Good-bye, Candlewick : a pleasant journey to
you, amuse yourself, and think sometimes of your
friends."

Thus saying the puppet made two steps to go,
but then stopped, and turning to his friend he
inquired :

"But are you quite certain that in that country

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 199

all the weeks consist of six Thursdays and one
Sunday ? "

"Most certain."

"But do you know for certain that the holidays
begin on the 1st of January and finish on the last
day of December ? "

" Assuredly."

"What a delightful country!" repeated Pinoc-
chio, looking enchanted. Then, with a resolute air,
he added in a great hurry :

This time really good-bye, and a pleasant journey
to you."

"Good-bye."

"When do you start.?"

"Shortly."

" What a pity ! If really it wanted only an hour
to the time of your start, I should be almost tempted
to wait.'

» And the Fairy ? "

" It is already late. ... If I return home an
hour sooner or an hour later it will be all the
same."

" Poor Pinocchio ! And if the Fairy scolds you ? "

"I must have patience! I will let her scold.
When she has scolded well she will hold her
tongue."

In the meantime night had come on and it was
quite dark. Suddenly they saw in the distance a

200 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

small light moving . . . and they heard a noise of
talking, and the sound of a trumpet, but so small

*' What a delightful country ! . . . What a delightful country !

and feeble that it resembled the hum of a mosquito.

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 201

" Here it is ! " shouted Candlewick, jumping to
his feet.

"What is it?" asked Pinocchio in a whisper.

"It is the coach coming to take me. Now will
you come, yes or no ? "

"But is it really true," asked the puppet, "that
in that country boys are never obliged to study .f"'

"Never, never, never!"

" What a delightful country ! . . . What a delight-
ful country I . . . What a delightful country I

XXXI

After five months' residence in the land of Cocagne^
Pinocchio^ to his great astonishment^ grows a
beautiful pair of donkey s ears^ and he becomes a
little donkey^ tail and all.

At last the coach arrived ; and it arrived without
making the slightest noise, for its wheels \sere
bound round with tow and rags.

It was drawn by twelve pairs of donkeys, all the
same size but of different colours.

Some were gray, some white, some brindled like
pepper and salt, and others had large stripes of
yellow and blue.

But the most extraordinary thing was this : the
twelve pairs, that is, the twenty-four donkeys, instead
of being shod like other beasts of burden, had on
their feet men's boots made of white kid.

And the coachman ? . . .

Picture to yourself a little man broader than he

303

204 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

was long, flabby and greasy like a lump of butter,
with a small round face like an orange, a little mouth
that was always laughing, and a soft caressing voice

And the coachman.

like a cat when she is trying to insinuate herself into
the good graces of the mistress of the house.

All the boys as soon as they saw him fell in love
with him, and vied with each other in taking places
in his coach to be conducted to the true land of

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 205

Cocagne, known on the geographical map by the
seducing name of the "Land of Boobies."

The coach was in fact quite full of boys between
eight and twelve years old, heaped one upon another
like herrings in a barrel. They were uncomfortable,
packed close together and could hardly breathe :
but nobody said Oh ! — nobody grumbled. The
consolation of knowing that in a few hours they
would reach a country where there were no books,
no schools, and no masters, made them so happy and
resigned that they felt neither fatigue nor incon-
venience, neither hunger, nor thirst, nor want of
sleep.

As soon as the coach had drawn up the little man
turned to Candlewick, and with a thousand smirks
and grimaces said to him, smiling:

"Tell me, my fine boy, would you also like to go
to that fortunate country ? "

" I certainly wish to go."

" But 1 must warn you, my dear child, that there
is not a place left in the coach. You can see for
yourself that it is quite full . . ."

"No matter," replied Candlewick; "if there is
no place inside, I will manage to sit on the springs."

And giving a leap he seated himself astride on
the springs."

"And you, my love! . . ." said the little man,
turning in a flattering manner to Pinocchio, "what

2o6 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

do you intend to do? Are you coming with us, or
are you going to remain behind ? "

" I remain behind," answered Pinocchio. " I am
going home. I intend to study and to earn a good
character at school, as all well-conducted boys do."

" Much good may it do you ! "

"Pinocchio!" called out Candlewick, "listen to
me: come with us and we shall have such fun."

''No, no, no ! "

" Come with us, and we shall have such fun,"
cried four other voices from the inside of the coach.

" Come with us, and we shall have such fun,"
shouted in chorus a hundred voices from the inside
of the coach.

" But if I come with you, what will my good Fairy
say ? " said the puppet, who was beginning to yield.

" Do not trouble your head with melancholy
thoughts. Consider only that we are going to a
country w^here we shall be at liberty to run riot from
morning till night."

Pinocchio did not answer ; but he sighed : he
sighed again : he sighed for the third time, and he
said finally :

"Make a little room for me, for I am coming too."

"The places are all full," replied the little man ;
" but to show you how welcome you are, you shall
have my seat on the box . . ."

" And you ? . . ."

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 207

" Oh, I will go on foot."

"No, indeed, I could not allow that. 1 would
rather mount one of these donkeys," cried Pinocchio.

Approaching the right-hand donkey of the first
pair he attempted to mount him, but the animal
turned on him, and giving him a great blow in the
stomach rolled him over with his legs in the air.

You can imagine the impertinent and immoderate
laughter of all the boys who witnessed this scene.

But the little man did not laugh. He approached
the rebellious donkey and, pretending to give him a
kiss, bit olf half of his ear.

Pinocchio in the meantime had got up from the
ground in a fury, and with a spring he seated him-
self on the poor animal's back. And he sprang so
well that the boys stopped laughing and began to
shout : " Hurrah, Pinocchio ! " and they clapped their
hands and applauded him as if they would never finish.

But the donkey suddenly kicked up its hind-legs,
and backing violently threw the poor puppet into
the middle of the road on to a heap of stones.

The roars of laughter recommenced : but the
little man, instead of laughing, felt such affection for
the restive ass that he kissed him again, and as he
did so he bit half of his other ear clean off. He
then said to the puppet :

" IMount him now without fear. That little
donkey had got some whim into his head ; but I

2o8 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

whispered two little words into his ears which have,
I hope, made him gentle and reasonable."

Pinocchio mounted, and the coach started.
Whilst the donkeys were galloping and the coach
was rattling over the stones of the high road, the
puppet thought that he heard a low voice that was
scarcely intelligible saying to him :

" Poor fool ! you would follow your own way,
but you will repent it ! "

Pinocchio, feeling almost frightened, looked from
side to side to try and discover where these words
could come from: but he saw nobody. The
donkeys galloped, the coach rattled, the boys inside
slept, Candlewick snored liked a dormouse, and the
little man seated on the box sang between his
teeth :

*' During the night all sleep,
But I sleep never . . ."

After they had gone another mile, Pinocchio
heard the same little low voice saying to him :

" Bear it in mind, simpleton ! Boys who refuse
to study, and turn their backs upon books, schools,
and masters, to pass their time in play and amuse-
ment, sooner or later come to a bad end. ... I
know it by experience . . . and I can tell you. A
day will come when you will weep as I am weeping
now . . . but then it will be too late! . . ."

On hearing these words whispered very softly

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 209

the puppet, more frightened than ever, sprang down
from the back of his donkey and went and took hold
of his mouth.

Imagine his surprise when he found that the
donkey was crying . . . and he was crying Hke
a boy!

" Eh ! Sir coachman," cried Pinocchio to the
little man, "here is an extraordinary thing! This
donkey is crying."

" Let him cry ; he will laugh when he is a
bridegroom."

'•But have you by chance taught him to
talk ? "

" No ; but he spent three years in a company
of learned dogs, and he learnt to mutter a few
words."

" Poor beast ! "

"Come, come," said the little man, "don't let us
waste time in seeing a donkey cry. Mount him,
and let us go on : the night is cold and the road
is long."

Pinocchio obeyed without another word. In the
morning about daybreak they arrived safely in the
" Land of Boobies."

It was a country unlike any other country in the

world. The population was composed entirely of

boys. The oldest were fourteen, and the youngest

scarcely eight years old. In the streets there was

2IO THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

such merriment, noise, and shouting, that it was
enough to turn anybody's head. There were troops
of boys everywhere. Some were playing with nuts,
some with battledores, some with balls. Some rode
velocipedes, others wooden horses. A party were
playing at hide and seek, a few were chasing each
other. Boys dressed in straw were eating lighted
tow ; some were reciting, some singing, some leap-
ing. Some were amusing themselves with walking
on their hands with their feet in the air; others
were trundling hoops, or strutting about dressed
as generals, wearing leaf helmets and commanding
a squadron of cardboard soldiers. Some were laugh-
ing, some shouting, some were calling out ; others
clapped their hands, or whistled, or clucked like a hen
who has just laid an egg. To sum it all up, it was such
a pandemonium, such a bedlam, such an uproar, that
not to be deafened it would have been necessary to
stuff one's ears with cotton wool. In every square,
canvas theatres had been erected, and they were
crowded with boys from morning till evening. On
the walls of the houses there were inscriptions
written in charcoal : " Long live playthings, we will
have no more schools : down with arithmetic : "
and similar other fine sentiments all in bad
spelling. .■

Pinocchio, Candlewick, and the other boys who
had made the journey with the little man, had

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 211

scarcely set foot in the town before they were in
the thick of the tumult, and I need not tell you
that in a few minutes they had made acquaintance
with everybody. Where could happier or more
contented boys be found ?

In the midst of continual games and every variety
of amusement, the hours, the days, and the wTeks
passed like lightning,

" Oh, what a delightful life ! " said Pinocchio,
whenever by chance he met Candlewick.

" See, then, if I was not right ? " replied the
other. " And to think that you did not want to
come ! To think that you had taken it into your
head to return home to your Fairy, and to lose your
time in studying ! ... If you are at this moment
free from the bother of books and school, you
must acknowledge that you owe it to me, to my
advice and to my persuasions. It is only friends
who know how to render such great services."

"It is true, Candlewick! If I am now a really
happy boy, it is all your doing. But do you know
what the master used to say when he talked to
me of you .'* He always said to me : ' Do not
associate with that rascal Candlewick, for he is
a bad companion, and will only lead you into
mischief! . . .' "

"•Poor master!" replied the other, shaking his
head. "I know only too well that he disliked me,

2 12 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

and amused himself by calumniating me ; but I am
generous and I forgive him ! "

" Noble soul ! " said Plnocchio, embracing his
friend affectionately, and kissing him between the
eyes.

This delightful life had gone on for five months.
The days had been entirely spent in play and
amusement, without a thought of books or school,
when one morning Pinocchio awoke to a most
disagreeable surprise that put him into a very
bad humour.

XXXll

Fuiocchio gets donkey's ears ; and then he becomes a
real little donkey and begins to bray.

What was this surprise ?

I will tell you, my dear little readers. The sur-
prise was that Pinocchio when he awoke scratched
his head ; and in scratching his head he discovered.
. . . Can you guess in the least what he discovered ?

He discovered to his great astonishment that his
ears had grown more than a hand.

You know that the puppet from his birth had
always had very small ears — so small that they were
not visible to the naked eye. You can imagine then
■what he felt when he found that during the night

2 14 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

his ears had become so long that they seemed Hke
two brooms.

He went at once in search of a glass that he might

His head embellished with donkey's ears.

look at himself, but not being able to find one he
filled the basin of his washing-stand with water, and
he saw reflected what he certainly would never have

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 215

wished to see. He saw his head embellished with a
magnificent pair of donkey's ears !

Only think of poor Pinocchio's sorrow, shame, and
despair 1

He began to cry and roar, and he beat his head
against the wall ; but the more he cried the longer
his ears grew : they grew, and grew, and became
hairy towards the points.

At the sound of his loud outcries a beautiful little
Marmot that lived on the first floor came into the
room. Seeing the puppet in such grief she asked
earnestly :

" What has happened to you, my dear fellow-

lodge

'' I am ill, my dear little Marmot, very ill . . .
and of an illness that frightens me. Do you under-
stand counting a pulse?"

"A httle."

" Then feel and see if by chance I have got fever."

The little Marmot raised her right fore-paw ; and
after having felt Pinocchio's pulse she said to him,
sighing:

" My friend, I am grieved to be obliged to give
you bad news ! . . ."

"What is it?"

" You have got a very bad fever ! . . ,

" What fever is it ? "

"It is donkey fever."

2i6 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

"That is a fever that I do not understand," said
the puppet, but he understood it only too well.

" Then I will explain it to you," said the Marmot.
" You must know that in two or three hours you
will be no longer a puppet, or a boy. . . ."

" Then what shall I be ? "

" In two or three hours you will become really
and truly a little donkey, like those that draw carts
and carry cabbages and salad to market."

" Oh ! unfortunate that I am ! unfortunate that I
am ! " cried Pinocchio, seizing his two ears with his
hands, and pulling them and tearing them furiously
as if they had been some one else's ears.

" My dear boy," said the Marmot, by way of con-
soling him, "what can you do to prevent it? It is
destiny. It is written in the decrees of wisdom that
all boys who are lazy, and who take a dislike to
books, to schools, and to masters, and who pass their
time in amusement, games, and diversions, must end
sooner or later by becoming transformed into so many
little donkeys."

" But is it really so ^ " asked the puppet, sobbing.

"It is indeed only too true! And tears are now
useless. You should have thought of it sooner! "

"But it was not my fault: believe me, little
Marmot, the fault was all Candlewick's ! . . ."

"And who is this Candlewick?"

" One of my schoolfellows. I wanted to return

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 217

home : I wanted to be obedient. I wished to study
and to earn a good character . . . but Candlewick
said to me : ' Why should you bother yourself by
studying? Why should you go to school? . . .
Come with us instead to the " Land of Boobies " :
there we shall none of us have to learn : there we
shall amuse ourselves from morning to night, and we
shall always be merry.' "

" And why did you follow the advice of that false
friend ? of that bad companion ? "

"Why? . . . Because, my dear little Marmot, I
am a puppet with no sense . . . and with no heart.
Ah ! if I had had the least heart I should never
have left that good Fairy who loved me like a
mamma, and who had done so much for me ! . . .
and I should be no longer a puppet ... for I
should by this time have become a little boy like so
many others! But if I meet Candlewick, woe to
him ! He shall hear what I think of him! . . ."

And he turned to go out. But when he reached
the door he remembered his donkey's ears, and
feeling ashamed to show them in public, what do
you think he did ? He took a big cotton cap, and
putting it on his head he pulled it well down over
the point of his nose.

He then set out, and went everywhere in search
of Candlewick. He looked for him in the streets,
in the squares, in the little theatres, in every possible

2i8 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

place ; but he could not find him. He inquired
for him of everybody he met, but no one had
seen him.

He then went to seek him at his house ; and
having reached the door he knocked,

" Who is there ? " asked Candlewick from within.

" It is I ! " answered the puppet.

" Wait a moment and I will let you in."

After half an hour the door was opened, and
imagine Pinocchio's feelings when upon going into
the room he saw his friend Candlewick with a big
cotton cap on his head which came down over his
nose.

At the sight of the cap Pinocchio felt almost
consoled, and thought to himself:

" Has my friend got the same illness that I have r
Is he also suffering from donkey fever ? . . ."

And pretending to have observed nothing he
asked him, smiling :

" How are you, my dear Candlewick ? "

" Very well ; as well as a mouse in a Parmesan
cheese."

" Are you saying that seriously ? "

" Why should I tell you a lie .'' "

" Excuse me ; but why, then, do you keep that
cotton cap on your head which covers up your ears ^ "

" The doctor ordered me to wear it because I
have hurt this knee. And you, dear puppet, why

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 219

have yoQ got on that cotton cap pulled down over
your nose ? "

" The doctor prescribed it because I have grazed
my foot."

" Oh, poor Pinocchio I . . ."

" Oh, poor Candlewick ! . . ."

After these words a long silence followed, during
which the two friends did nothing but look mockingly
at each other.

At last the puppet said in a soft mellifluous voice
to his companion :

" Satisfy my curiosity, my dear Candlewick :
have you ever suffered from disease of the ears ? "

" Never ! . . . And you ? "

" Never ! Only since this morning one of my
ears aches."

" Mine is also paining me,"

" You also ^ . . . And which of your ears hurts
you :

" Both of them. And you ? "

" Both of them. Can we have got the same
illness ^ "

" I fear so."

'' Will you do me a kindness, Candlewick ^ "

" Willingly I With all my heart."

"Will you let me see your ears.'*"

" Why not .? But first, my dear Pinocchio, I
should like to see yours."

220 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

" No : you must be the first."

" No, dear ! First you and then I ! "

" Well," said the puppet, " let us come to an
agreement like good fritnds."

" Let us hear it."

" We will both take off our caps at the same
moment. Do you agree ? "

" I agree."

" Then attention ! "

And Pinocchio began to count in a loud voice :

" One ! Two ! Three ! "

At the word three ! the two boys took off their
caps and threw them into the air.

And then a scene followed that would seem
incredible if it was not true. That is, that when
Pinocchio and Candlewick discovered that they were
both struck with the same misfortune, instead of
feeling full of mortification and grief, they began to
prick their ungainly ears and to make a thousand
antics, and they ended by going into bursts of
laughter.

And they laughed, and laughed, and laughed,
until they had to hold themselves together. But in
the midst of their merriment, Candlewick suddenly
stopped, staggered, and changing colour said to his
friend :

" Help, help, Pinocchio ! "

" What- is the matter with you ? "

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 221

" Alas, I cannot any longer stand upright."

" No more can I," exclaimed Pinocchio, tottering
and beginning to cry.

And whilst they were talking they both doubled
up and began to run round the room on their hands
and feet. And as they ran, their hands became
hoofs, their faces lengthened into muzzles, and their
backs became covered with a light gray hairy coat
sprinkled with black.

But do you know what was the worst moment
for these two wretched boys? The worst and the
most humiliating moment was when their tails grew.
Vanquished by shame and sorrow they wept and
lamented their fate.

Oh, if they had but been wiser! But instead
of sighs and lamentations they could only bray like
asses ; and they brayed loudly and said in chorus :
"j-a, j-a,j-a."

Whilst this was going on some one knocked at
the door, and a voice on the outside said :

"Open the door! I am the little man, I am the
coachman, who brought you to this country. Open
at once, or it will be the worse for you ! "

XXXIII

Pinocchio, having become a genuine little donkey, is
taken to be sold, and is bought by the director of
a company of buj-oons to be taught to dance, and
to jump through hoops: but one evening he lames
himself and then he is bought by a man ivho
purposes to make a drum of his skin.

Finding that the door remained shut the little
man burst it open with a violent kick, and coming
into the room he said to Pinocchio and Candlewick
with his usual little laugh :

"Well done, boys! You brayed well, and I
recognised you by your voices. That is why I am
here."

At these words the two little donkeys were quite
stupefied, and stood with their heads down, their
ears lowered, and their tails between their legs.

At first the little man stroked and caressed them ;
then taking out a currycomb he currycombed them

2 24 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

well. And when by this process he had polished
them till they shone like two mirrors, he put a
halter round their necks and led them to the market-
place, in hopes of selling them and making a good
profit.

And indeed buyers were not wanting. Candlewick
was boup;ht by a peasant whose donkey had died
the previous day. Pinocchio was sold to the
director of a company of buffoons and tight-rope
dancers, who bought him that he might teach him
to leap and to dance with the other animals belonging
to the company.

And now, my little readers, you will have under-
stood the fine trade that little man pursued. The
wicked little monster, who had a face all milk and
honey, made frequent journeys round the world
with his coach. As he went along he collected,
with promises and flattery, all the idle boys who
had taken an aversion to books and school. As
soon as his coach was full he conducted them to
the " Land of Boobies," that they might pass their
time in games, in uproar, and in amusement. When
these poor deluded boys, from continual play and no
study, had become so many little donkeys, he took
possession of them with great delight and satisfaction,
and carried them off to the fairs and markets to be
sold. And in this way he had in a few years made
heaps of money and had become a millionaire.

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 225

What became of Candlewick I do not know ; but
I do know that Pinocchio from the very first day-
had to endure a very hard, laborious hfe.

When he was put into his stall his master filled
the manger with straw ; but Pinocchio, having tried
a mouthful, spat it out again.

Then his master, grumbling, filled the manger
with hay ; but neither did the hay please him,

"Ah!" exclaimed his master in a passion. "Does
not hay please you either? Leave it to me, my
fine donkey ; if you are so full of caprices I will
find a way to cure you I . . ."

And by way of correcting him he struck his legs
with his whip.

Pinocchio began to cry and to bray with pain,
and he said, braying :

"J-a, j-a, I cannot digest straw I . . ."

"Then eat hay!" said his master, who understood
perfectly the asinine dialect.

"J-a, j-a, hay gives mc a pain in my stomach."

"Do you mean to pretend that a little donkey
like you must be kept on breasts of chickens, and
capons in jelly?" asked his master, getting more
and more angry, and whipping him again.

At this second whipping Pinocchio prudently
held his tongue and said nothing more.

The stable was then shut and Pinocchio was left
alone. He had not eaten for many hours, and he
p

2 26 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

began to yawn from hunger. And when he yawned
he opened a mouth that seemed as wide as an oven.

At last, finding nothing else in the manger, he
resigned himself, and chewed a little hay ; and after
he had chewed it well, he shut his eyes and
swallowed it.

" This hay is not bad," he said to himself; "but
how much better it would have been if I had gone
on with my studies ! . . . Instead of hay I might
now be eating a hunch of new bread and a fine slice
of sausage ! But I must have patience ! . . ."

The next morning when he woke he looked in the
manger for a little more hay; but he found none,
for he had eaten it all during the night.

Then he took a mouthful of chopped straw ; but
whilst he was chewing it he had to acknowledge
that the taste of chopped straw did not in the least
resemble a savoury dish of macaroni or rice.

" But 1 must have patience ! " he repeated as he
went on chewing. " May my example serve at least
as a warning to all disobedient boys who do not
want to study. Patience ! . . . patience ! . . ."

" Patience indeed ! " shouted his master, coming
at that moment into the stable. " Do you think,
my little donkey, that I bought you only to give you
food and drink ? I bought you to make you work,
and that you might earn money for me. Up, then,
at once ! you must come with me into the circus, and

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 227

there I will teach you to jump through hoops, to go
through frames of paper head foremost, to dance
waltzes and polkas, and to stand upright on your
hind legs."

Poor Pinocchio, either by love or by force, had to
learn all these fine things. But it took him three
months before he had learnt them, and he got many
a whipping that nearly took off his skin.

At last a day came when his master was able to
announce that he would give a really extraordinary^
representation. The many-coloured placards stuck,
on the street corners were thus worded :

GREAT FULL DRESS REPRESENTATION.

TO-NIGHT

Will Take Place the Usual Feats

AND Surprising Performances

Executed by all the Artistes

and by all the horses of the company,

and moreover

The Famous

LITTLE DONKEY PINOCCHIO,

CALLED

THE STAR OF THE DANCE,

WILL MAKE HIS FIRST APPEARANCE.

The Theatke will be Brilliantlt Illuminated.

228 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

On that evening, as you may imagine, an hour
before the play was to begin the theatre was
crammed.

There was not a place to be had either in the pit
or the stalls, or in the boxes even, by paying its
weight in gold.

The benches round the circus were crowded with
children and with boys of all ages, who were in a
fever of impatience to see the famous Httle donkey
Pinocchio dance.

When the first part of the performance was
over, the director of the company, dressed in a black
coat, white shorts, and big leather boots that came
above his knees, presented himself to the public, and
after making a profound bow he began with much
solemnity the following ridiculous speech :

" Respectable public, ladies and gentlemen ! The
humble undersigned being a passer-by in this
illustrious city, I have wished to procure for myself
the honour, not to say the pleasure, of presenting to
this intelligent and distinguished audience a cele-
brated little donkey, who has already had the
honour of dancing in the presence of His Majesty
the Emperor of all the principal Courts of Europe.

" And thanking you, I beg of you to help us with
your inspiring presence and to be indulgent to us."

This speech was received with much laughter and
applause ; but the applause redoubled and became

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 229

tumultuous when the little donkey Pinocchio made
his appearance in the middle of the circus. He was
decked out for the occasion. He had a new bridle
of polished leather with brass buckles and studs,
and two white camelias in his ears. His mane was
divided and curled, and each curl was tied with bows
of coloured ribbon. He had a girth of gold and
silver round his body, and his tail was plaited with
amaranth and blue velvet ribbons. He was, in fact,
a little donkey to fall in love with !

The director, in presenting him to the public,
added these few words :

"My respectable auditors! I am not here to
tell you falsehoods of the great difficulties that
I have overcome in understanding and subjugating
this mammifer, whilst he was grazing at liberty
amongst the mountains in the plains of the torrid
zone. I beg you will observe the wild rolling of
his eyes. Every means having been tried in vain
to tame him, and to accustom him to the life of
domestic quadrupeds, I was often forced to have
recourse to the convincing argument of the whip.
But all my goodness to him, instead of gaining his
affections, has, on the contrary, increased his vicious-
ness. However, following the system of Gall, I
discovered in his cranium a bony cartilage, that
the Faculty of Medicine in Paris has itself recognised
as the regenerating bulb of the hair, and of dance.

230 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

For this reason I have not only taught him to dance,
but also to jump through hoops and through frames
covered with paper. Admire him, and then pass
your opinion on him ! But before taking my leave
of you, permit me, ladies and gentlemen, to invite
you to the daily performance that will take place
to-morrow evening ; but in the apotheosis that
the weather should threaten rain, the performance
will be postponed till to-morrow morning at 11
antemeridian of postmeridian."

Here the director made another profound bow;
and then turning to Pinocchio, he said :

"Courage, Pinocchio! before you begin your
feats make your bow to this distinguished audience
— ladies, gentlemen, and children."

Pinocchio obeyed, and bent both his knees till
they touched the ground, and remained kneeling until
the director, cracking his whip, shouted to him :

" At a foot's pace ! "

Then the little donkey raised himself on his four
legs and began to walk round the theatre, keeping
at a foot's pace.

After a little the director cried :

" Trot ! " and Pinocchio, obeying the order,
changed to a trot.

" Gallop ! " and Pinocchio broke into a gallop.

" Full gallop ! " and Pinocchio went full gallop.
But whilst he was going full speed like a racehorse

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 231

the director, raising his arm in the air, fired off
a pistol.

At the shot the little donkey, pretending to be
wounded, fell his whole length in the circus, as if
he was really dying.

As he got up from the ground amidst an outburst
of applause, shouts, and clapping of hands, he
naturally raised his head and looked up . . . and
he saw in one of the boxes a beautiful lady who
wore round her neck a thick gold chain from which
hung a medallion. On the medallion was painted
the portrait of a puppet.

" That is my portrait ! . . . that lady is the
Fairy ! " said Pinocchio to himself, recognising her
immediately ; and overcome with delight he tried
to cry :

" Oh, my little Fairy ! Oh, my little Fairy ! "

But instead of these words a bray came from
his throat, so sonorous and so prolonged that all
the spectators laughed, and more especially all the
children who were in the theatre.

Then the director, to give him a lesson, and to
make him understand that it is not good manners
to bray before the public, gave him a blow on his
nose with the handle of his whip.

The poor little donkey put his tongue out an
inch, and licked his nose for at least five minutes,
thinking perhaps that it would ease the pain he felt.

232 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

But what was his despair when, looking up a
second time, he saw that the box was empty and
that the Fairy had disappeared ! . . .

He thought he was going to die : his eyes filled
with tears and he began to weep. Nobody, how-

« Now let the audience see how gracefully you can jump
through the hoops."

ever, noticed it, and least of all the director who,
cracking his whip, shouted :

" Courage, Pinocchio ! Now let the audience
see how gracefully you can jump through the
hoops."

Pinocchio tried two or three times, but each

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 233

time that he came in front of the hoop, instead
of going through it, he found it easier to go
under it. At last he made a leap and went through
it ; but his right leg unfortunately caught in the
hoop, and that caused him to fall to the ground
doubled up in a heap on the other side.

When he got up he was lame, and it was only
with great difficulty that he managed to return to
the stable.

" Bring out Pinocchio I We want the little
donkey ! Bring out the little donkey ! " shouted
all the boys in the theatre, touched and sorry for
the sad accident.

But the little donkey was seen no more that
evening.

The following morning the veterinary, that is,
the doctor of animals, paid him a visit, and declared
that he would remain lame for life.

The director then said to the stable-boy :

" What do you suppose I can do with a lame
donkey ? He would eat food without earning it.
Take him to the market and sell him."

When they reached the market a purchasei
was found at once. He asked the stable-boy :

" How much do you want for that lame
donkey ? "

" Twenty francs."

"I will giveyou twenty pence. Don't suppose that

234 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

i am buying him to make use of; I am buying him
solely for his skin. I see that his skin is very hard,
and I intend to make a drum with it for the band of
my village."

I leave it to my readers to imagine poor Pinocchio's
feelings when he heard that he was destined to
become a drum !

As soon as the purchaser had paid his twenty
pence he conducted the little donkey to the seashore.
He then put a stone round his neck, and tying a
rope, the end of which he held in his hand, round
his leg, he gave him a sudden push and threw him
into the water.

Pinocchio, weighed down by the stone, went at
once to the bottom ; and his owner, keeping tight
hold of the cord, sat down quietly on a piece of
rock to wait until the little donkey was drowned,
intending then to skin him.

XXXIV

Pinocchio^ having been thrown into the sea^ is eaten by
the fish and becomes a puppet as he was before.
Whilst he is swimming away to save his life he is
swallowed by the terrible Dog-fish.

After Pinocchio had been fifty minutes under the
water, his purchaser said aloud to himself :

" My poor little lame donkey must by this time
be quite drowned. 1 will therefore pull him out of
the water, and I will make a fine drum of his skin."

And he began to haul in the rope that he had tied
to the donkey's leg ; and he hauled, and hauled, and
hauled, until at last . . . what do you think appeared
above the water ? Instead of a little dead donkey he
saw a live puppet, who was wriggling like an eel.

Seeing this wooden puppet the poor man thought
he was dreaming, and, struck dumb with astonish-
ment, he remained with his mouth open and his eyes
starting out of his head.

Having somewhat recovered from his first stupe-
faction, he asked in a quavering voice :

236 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

" And the little donkey that I threw into the
sea ? What has become of him?"

The poor man thought he was dreaming.

"lam the little donkey!" said Pinocchio,
laughing.
"You?"

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 237

u J "

'' Ah, you young scamp ! Do you dare to make
game of me ? "

" To make game of you ? Quite the contrary,
my dear master; I am speaking seriously."

" But how can you, who, but a short time ago,
were a little donkey, have become a wooden puppet,
only from having been left in the water ? "

" It must have been the effect of sea-water. The
sea makes extraordinary changes."

"Beware, puppet, beware! . . . Don't imagine
that you can amuse yourself at my expense. Woe
to you, if I lose patience ! . . ."

" Well, master, do you wish to know the true
story ? If you will set my leg free I will tell it you."

The good man, who was curious to hear the true
story, immediately untied the knot that kept him
bound ; and Pinocchio, finding himself as free as a
bird in the air, commenced as follows :

" You must know that I was once a puppet as I
am now, and I was on the point of becoming a boy
like the many that there are in the world. But
instead, induced by my dislike to study and the advice
of bad companions, I ran away from home . . . and
one fine day when I awoke I found myself changed
into a donkey with long ears . . . and a long tail !
. . . What a disgrace it was to me 1 — a disgrace,
dear master, that the blessed St Anthony would not

238 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

inflict even upon you ! Taken to the market to be
sold I was bought by the director of an equestrian
company, who took it into his head to make a
famous dancer of me, and a famous leaper through
hoops. But one night during a performance I had
a bad fall in the circus and lamed both my legs.
Then the director, not knowing what to do with a
lame donkey, sent me to be sold, and you were the
purchaser ! . . ."

" Only too true ! And I paid twenty pence for
you. And now who will give me back my poor
pennies? "

"And why did you buy me? You bought me
to make a drum of my skin ! . . . a drum ! . . ."

"Only too true! And now where shall I find
another skin ? . . ,"

" Don't despair, master. There are such a
number of little donkeys in the world ! "

"Tell me, you impertinent rascal, does your
story end here ? "

"No," answered the puppet; "I have another
two words to say and then I shall have finished.
After you had bought me you brought me to this
place to kill me ; but then, yielding to a feeling of
compassion, you preferred to tie a stone round my
neck and to throw me into the sea. This humane
feeling does you great honour, and I shall always
be grateful to you for it. But nevertheless, dear

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 239

master, this time you made your calculations without
considering the Fairy ! . . ."

"And who is this Fairy?"

"She is my mamma, and she resembles all other
good mammas who care for their children, and who
never lose sight of them, but help them lovingly,
even when, on account of their foolishness and evil
conduct, they deserve to be abandoned and left to
themselves. Well, then, the good Fairy, as soon
as she saw that I was in danger of drowning, sent
immediately an immense shoal of fish, who, believing
me really to be a little dead donkey, began to eat
me. And what mouthfuls they took ! I should
never have thought that fish were greedier than
boys ! . . . Some ate my ears, some my muzzle,
others my neck and mane, some the skin of my
legs, some my coat . . . and amongst them there
was a little fish so polite that he even condescended
to eat my tail."

" From this time forth," said his purchaser,
horrified, " I swear that I will never touch fish. It
would be too dreadful to open a mullet, or a fried
whiting, and to find inside a donkey's tail ! "

"I agree with you," said the puppet, laughing.
"However, I must tell you that when the fish had
finished eating the donkey's hide that covered me
from head to foot, they naturally reached the bone
. . or rather the wood, for as you see I am made

240 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

of the hardest wood. But after giving a few bites
they soon discovered that 1 was not a morsel for their
teeth, and, disgusted with such indigestible food,
they went off, some in one direction and some in
another, without so much as saying thank you to
me. And now, at last, I have told you how it was
that when you pulled up the rope you found a live
puppet instead of a dead donkey."

"I laugh at your story," cried the man in a rage.
"I know only that I spent twenty pence to buy
you, and I will have my money back. Shall I
tell you what I will do ? I will take you back
to the market and I will sell you by weight as
seasoned wood for lighting fires."

"Sell me if you like; I am content," said
Pinocchio.

But as he said it he made a spring and plunged
into the water. Swimming gaily away from the
shore he called to his poor owner :

"Good-bye, master; if you should be in want
of a skin to make a drum, remember me."

And he laughed and went on swimming ; and
after a while he turned again and shouted louder :

"Good-bye, master; if you should be in want
of a little well-seasoned wood for lighting the
fire, remember me."

In the twinkling of an eye he had swum so far
off that he was scarcely visible. All that could be

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 241

seen of him was a little black speck on the surface
of the sea that from time to time lifted its legs out
of the water and leapt and capered like a dolphin
enjoying himself.

Whilst Pinocchio was swimming he knew not
whither he saw in the midst of the sea a rock
that seemed to be made of white marble, and
on the summit there stood a beautiful little goat
who bleated lovingly and made signs to him to
approach.

But the most singular thing was this. The little
goat's hair, instead of being white or black, or
a mixture of two colours as is usual with other
goats, was blue, and of a very vivid blue, greatly
resembling the hair of the beautiful Child.

I leave you to imagine how rapidly poor Pin-
occhio's heart began to beat. He swam with
redoubled strength and energy towards the white
rock ; and he was already half-way when he saw,
rising up out of the water and coming to meet
him, the horrible head of a sea-monster. His
wide-open cavernous mouth and his three rows of
enormous teeth would have been terrifying to
look at even in a picture.

And do you know what this sea-monstor was.''

This sea-monster was neither more nor less than
that gigantic Dog-fish who has been mentioned
many times in this story, and who, for his slaughter
Q

242 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

and for his insatiable voracity, had been named the
" Attila of fish and fishermen."

Only think of poor Pinocchio's terror at the
sight of the monster. He tried to avoid it, to
change his direction ; he tried to escape ; but that
immense wide-open mouth came towards him with
the velocity of an arrow.

" Be quick, Pinocchio, for pity's sake," cried the
beautiful little goat, bleating.

And Pinocchio swam desperately with his arms,
his chest, his legs, and his feet.

"Quick, Pinocchio, the monster is close upon
you! . . ."

And Pinocchio swam quicker than ever, and flew
on with the rapidity of a ball from a gun. He had
nearly reached the rock, and the little goat, leaning
over towards the sea, had stretched out her fore-legs
to help him out of the water ! . . .

But it was too late ! The monster had over-
taken him, and, drawing in his breath, he sucked in
the poor puppet as he would have sucked a hen's
egg ; and he swallowed him with such violence and
avidity that Pinocchio, in falling into the Dog-fish's
stomach, received such a blow that he remained un-
conscious for a quarter of an hour afterwards.

When he came to himself again after the shock
he could not in the least imagine in what world he
was. All round him it was quite dark, and the

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 243

darkness was so black and so profound that it seemed
to him that he had fallen head downwards in to an
inkstand full of ink. He listened, but he could hear
no noise ; only from time to time great gusts of wind
blew in his face. At first he could not understand
where the wind came from, but at last he dis-
covered that it came out of the monster's lungs.
For you must know that the Dog-fish suffered very
much from asthma, and when he breathed it was
exactly as if a north wind was blowing :

Pinocchio at first tried to keep up his courage ;
but when he had one proof after another that he
was really shut up in the body of this sea-monster
he began to cry and scream and to sob out :

" Help ! help ! Oh, how unfortunate I am !
Will nobody come to save me ? "

" Who do you think could save you, unhappy
wretch ?...'" said a voice in the dark that sounded
like a guitar out of tune.

"Who is speaking?" asked Pinocchio, frozen
with terror.

" It is I ! I am a poor Tunny who was swallowed
by the Dog-fish at the same time that you were.
And what fish are you ? "

" I have nothing in common with fish. I am a
puppet."

" Then if you are not a fish, why did you let
yourself be swallowed by the monster ,'' "

244 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

"I didn't let myself be swallowed: it was the
monster swallowed me ! And now, what are we to
do here in the dark ? "

" Resign ourselves and wait until the Dog-fish
has digested us both."

" But I do not want to be digested ! " howled
Pinocchio, beginning to cry again.

"Neither do I want to be digested," added the
Tunny ; " but 1 am enough of a philosopher to
console myself by thinking that when one is born
a Tunny it is more dignified to die in the water
than in oil."

" That is all nonsense ! " cried Pinocchio.

"It is my opinion," replied the Tunny; and
opinions, so say the political Tunnies, ought to be
respected."

" To sum it all up ... I want to get away from
here ... I want to escape."

" Escape if you are able ! . . . "

"Is this Dog-fish w^ho has swallowed us very
big.^ " asked the puppet.

"Big! Why, only imagine, his body is two
miles long without counting his tail."

Whilst they were holding this conversation in the
dark, Pinocchio thought that he saw a light a long
way off.

" What is that little light I see in the distance ? "
he asked.

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 245

"It is most likely some companion in misfortune
who is waiting like us to be digested."

" I will go and find him. Do you not think
that it may by chance be some old fish who perhaps
could show us how to escape ^ "

" I hope it may be so with all my heart, dear
puppet."

" Good-bye, Tunny."

" Good-bye, puppet, and good fortune attend
you."

"Where shall we meet again? ..."

"Who can say? ... It is better not even to
think of it ! "

XXXV

Pinocchio finds in the body of the Dog-Jish . . . whom
does he find ? Read this chapter and you will
know.

Pinocchio, having taken leave of his friend the
Tunny, began to grope his way in the dark through
the body of the Dog-fish, taking a step at a time
in the direction of the light that he saw^ shining
dimly at a great distance.

The farther he advanced the brighter became the
light ; and he walked and walked until at last he
reached it : and when he reached it . . . what did
he find ? I will give you a thousand guesses. He
found a little table spread out, and on it a lighted
candle stuck into a green glass bottle, and seated at
the table was a little old man. He was eating some
live fish, and they were so very much alive that
whilst he was eating them they sometimes even
jumped out of his mouth.

At this sight Pinocchio was filled with such great

248 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

and unexpected joy that he became almost deHrious.
He wanted to laugh, he wanted to cry, he wanted
to say a thousand things, and instead he could only
stammer out a few confused and broken words. At
last he succeeded in uttering a cry of joy, and

" Oh, my dear papa ! I have found you at last ! "

opening his arms he threw them round the little
old man's neck, and began to shout :

" Oh, my dear papa ! I have found you at last !
I will never leave you more, never more, never
more ! "

" Then my eyes tell me true ? " said the little old
man, rubbing his eyes ; " then you are really my
dear Pinocchio ? "

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 249

"Yes, yes, I am Pinocchio, really Pinocchio!
And you have quite forgiven me, have you not?
Oh, my dear papa, how good you are ! . . . and to
think that I, on the contrary . . . Oh I but if you
only knew what misfortunes have been poured on
my head, and all that has befallen me ! Only
imagine, the day that you, poor dear papa, sold your
coat to buy me a Spelling-book that I might go to
school, I escaped to see the puppet-show, and the
showman wanted to put me on the fire that I might
roast his mutton, and he was the same that after-
wards gave me five gold pieces to take them to you,
but I met the Fox and the Cat, who took me to the
inn of the Red Crawfish, where they ate like wolves,
and I left by myself in the middle of the night, and
I encountered assassins who ran after me, and I ran
away, and they followed, and I ran, and they always
followed me, and I ran, until they hung me to a
branch of a Big Oak, and the beautiful Child with
blue hair sent a little carriage to fetch me, and the
doctors when they had seen me said immediately,
'If he is not dead, it is a proof that he is still alive '
— and then by chance I told a lie, and my nose
began to grow until I could no longer get through
the door of the room, for which reason 1 went with
the Fox and the Cat to bury the four gold pieces,
for one I had spent at the inn, and the Parrot began
to laugh, and instead of two thousand gold pieces I

250 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

found none left, for which reason the judge when
he heard that I had been robbed had me immediately-
put in prison to content the robbers, and then when
I was coming away I saw a beautiful bunch of
grapes in a field, and I was caught in a trap, and the
peasant, who was quite right, put a dog-collar round
my neck that I might guard the poultry-yard, and
acknowledging my innocence let me go, and the
Serpent with the smoking tail began to laugh and
broke a blood-vessel in his chest, and so 1 returned
to the house of the beautiful Child who was dead,
and the Pigeon, seeing that I was crying, said to
me, ' I have seen your father who was building a
little boat to go in search of you,' and I said to him,
* Oh ! if I had also wings,' and he said to me, ' Do
you want to go to your father ? ' and 1 said,
'Without doubt! but who will take me to him?'
and he said to me, ' I will take you,' and I said to
him, ' How ? ' and he said to me, ' Get on my back,'
and so we flew all night, and then in the morning
all the fishermen who were looking out to sea said
to me, 'There is a poor man in a boat who is on
the point of being drowned,' and I recognised you
at once, even at that distance, for my heart told me,
and I made signs to you to return to land . . ."

"I also recognised you," said Geppetto, "and
I would willingly have returned to the shore : but
what was I to do ! The sea was tremendous, and

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 251

a great wave upset my boat. Then a horrible
Dog-fish who was near, as soon as he saw me in the
water, came towards me, and putting out his tongue
took hold of me, and swallowed me as if I had been
a little Bologna tart."

" And how long have you been shut up here ? "
asked Pinocchio.

"Since that day — it must be nearly two years
ago : two years, my dear Pinocchio, that have
seemed to me like two centuries ! "

" And how have you managed to live ? And
where did you get the candle ? And the matches
to light it? Who gave them to you?"

" Stop, and I will tell you everything. You must
know, then, that in the same storm in which my
boat was upset a merchant vessel foundered. The
sailors were all saved, but the vessel went to the
bottom, and the Dog-fish, who had that day an
excellent appetite, after he had swallowed me,
swallowed also the vessel . . ."

"How?"

" He swallowed it in one mouthful, and the
only thing that he spat out was the mainmast, that
had stuck between his teeth like a fish-bone.
Fortunately for me the vessel was laden with
preserved meat in tins, biscuit, bottles of wine, dried
raisins, cheese, coffee, sugar, candles, and boxes of
■wax matches. With this providential supply I have

252 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

been able to live for two years. Bat I have arrived
at the end of my resources : there is nothing left in
the larder, and this candle that you see burning is
the last that remains . . ."

" And after that ? "

" After that, dear boy, we shall both remain in
the dark."

" Then, dear Httle papa," said Pinocchio, " there
is no time to lose. We must think of escap-
ing ..."

" Of escaping ? . . . and how?"

"We must escape through the mouth of the
Dog-fish, throw ourselves into the sea and swim
away."

" You talk well : but, dear Pinocchio, I don't
know how to swim."

"What does that matter.'' ... I am a good
swimmer, and you can get on my shoulders and I
will carry you safely to shore."

"All illusions, my boy!" replied Geppetto,
shaking his head, with a melancholy smile. " Do
you suppose it possible that a puppet like you,
scarcely a metre high, could have the strength to
swim with me on his shoulders ! "

"Try it and you will see ! "

Without another word Pinocchio took the candle
in his hand, and going in front to light the way, he
said to his father :

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 253

" Follow me, and don't be afraid."

And they walked for some time and traversed
the body and the stomach of the Dog-fish. But
when they had arrived at the point where the
monster's big throat began, they thought it better
to stop to give a good look round and to choose
the best moment for escaping.

Now I must tell you that the Dog-fish, being
very old, and suffering from asthma and palpitation
of the heart, was obliged to sleep with his mouth
open. Pinocchio, therefore, having approached the
entrance to his throat and, looking up, could see
beyond the enormous gaping mouth a large piece of
starry sky and beautiful moonlight,

" This is the moment to escape," he whispered,
turning to his father ; " the Dog-fish is sleeping
like a dormouse, the sea is calm, and it is as light as
day. Follow me, dear papa, and in a short time we
shall be in safety."

They immediately climbed up the throat of
the sea-monster, and having reached his immense
mouth they began to walk on tiptoe down his
tongue.

Before taking the final leap the puppet said to
his father :

'' Get on my shoulders and put your arms
tight round my neck. I will take care of the
rest."

254 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

As soon as Geppetto was firmly settled on his son's
shoulders, Pinocchio, feeling sure of himself, threw
himself into the water and began to swim. The
sea was as smooth as oil, the moon shone brilliantly,
and the Dog-fish was sleeping so profoundly that
even a cannonade would have failed' to wake
him.

XXXVI

Pinocchio at last ceases to be a puppet
and becomes a boy.

Whilst Pinocchio was swimming quickly towards
the shore he discovered that his father, who was
on his shoulders with his legs in the water, was
trembling as violently as if the poor man had got an
attack of ague fever.

Was he trembling from cold or from fear ? . . .
Perhaps a little from both the one and the other.
But Pinocchio, thinking that it was from fear, said
to comfort him :

"Courage, papa! In a few minutes we shall be
safely on shore."

" But where is this blessed shore "i " asked the
little old man, becoming still more frightened, and
screwing up his eyes as tailors do when they wish
to thread a needle. " I have been looking in every
direction and I see nothing but the sky and the sea."

"But I see the shore as well," said the puppet.

256 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

" You must know that I am like a cat : I see better
by night than by day."

Poor Pinocchio was making a pretence of being
in good spirits, but in reality ... in reality he
was beginning to feel discouraged : his strength was
failing, he was gasping and panting for breath ... he
could do no more, and the shore was still far off.

He swam until he had no breath left ; then he
turned his head to Geppetto and said in broken words:

" Papa . . . help me ... I am dying ! . . ."

The father and son were on the point of drowning
when they heard a voice like a guitar out of tune
saying :

"Who is it that is dying ? "

"It is I, and my poor father ! . . ."

" I know that voice ! You are Pinocchio ! "

" Precisely : and you ? "

"I am the Tunny, your prison companion in the
body of the Dog-fish."

"And how did you manage to escape ?"

" I followed your example. You showed me the
road, and I escaped after you."

"Tunny, you have arrived at the right moment!
I implore you to help us, or we are lost."

"Willingly and with all my heart. You must, both
of you, take hold of my tail and leave me to guide
you. I will take you on shore in four minutes."

Geppetto and Pinocchio, as I need not tell you,

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 257

accepted the offer at once; but instead of holding
on by his tail they thought it would be more comfort-
able to get on the Tunny's back.

Having reached the shore Pinocchio sprang first
on land that he might help his father to do the
same. He then turned to the Tunny, and said to
him in a voice full of emotion :

"My friend, you have saved my papa's life. I
can find no words with which to thank you properly.
Permit me at least to give you a kiss as a sign of my
eternal gratitude ! . . ."

The Tunny put his head out of the water, and
Pinocchio, kneeling on the ground, kissed him
tenderly on the mouth. At this spontaneous proof
of warm affection, the poor Tunny, who was not
accustomed to it, felt extremely touched, and
ashamed to let himself be seen crying like a child,
he plunged under the water and disappeared.

By this time the day had dawned. Pinocchio
then offering his arm to Geppetto, who had scarcely
breath to stand, said to him :

" Lean on my arm, dear papa, and let us go.
We will walk very slowly like the ants, and when
we are tired we can rest by the wayside."

"And where shall we go?" asked Geppetto.

"In search of some house or cottage, where they
will give us for charity a mouthful of bread, and a
little straw to serve as a bed."
R

258 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

They had not gone a hundred yards when they
saw by the roadside two villainous-looking individuals
begging.

They were the Cat and the Fox, but they were
scarcely recognisable. Fancy ! the Cat had so long
feigned blindness that she had become blind in reality ;
aiid the Fox. old, mangy, and with one side paralysed,
had not even his tail left. That sneaking thief,
having fallen into the most squalid misery, one fine
day had found himself obliged to sell his beautiful
tail to a travelling pedlar, who bought it to drive
away flies.

" Oh, Pinocchio ! " cried the Fox, " give a little in
charity to two poor infirm people."

" Infirm people," repeated the Cat.

" Begone, impostors ! " answered the puppet.
"You took me in once, but you will never catch me
again."

" Believe me, Pinocchio, we are now poor and
unfortunate indeed ! "

"If you are poor, you deserve it. Recollect the
proverb: 'Stolen money never fructifies.' Begone,
impostors ! "

And thus saying Pinocchio and Geppetto went
their way in peace. When they had gone another
hundred yards they saw, at the end of a path in the
middle of the fields, a nice little straw hut with a
roof of tiles and bricks.

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 259

"That hut must be inhabited by some one,'' said
Pinocchio, " Let us go and knock at the door."

They went and knocked.

" Who is there ? " said a little voice from within.

"We are a poor father and son without bread
and without a roof," answered the puppet.

" Turn the key and the door will open," said the
same little voice.

Pinocchio turned the key and the door opened.
They went in and looked here, there, and every-
where, but could see no one.

"Oh! where is the master of the house?" said
Pinocchio, much surprised.

" Here I am up here ! "

The father and son looked immediately up to the
ceiling, and there on a beam they saw the Talking-
cricket.

"Oh, my dear little Cricket!" said Pinocchio,
bowing politely to him.

"Ah! now you call me 'Your dear little Cricket.'
But do you remember the time when you threw the
handle of a hammer at me, to drive me from your
house.'' . . ."

" You are right. Cricket ! Drive me away also
. . . throw the handle of a hammer at me; but have
pity on my poor papa . . ."

"I will have pity on both father and son, but 1
wished to remind you of the ill treatment I received

26o THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

from you, to teach you that in this world, when it is
possible, we should show courtesy to everybody, if
we wish it to be extended to us in our hour of need."

" You are right, Cricket, you are right, and I will
bear in mind the lesson you have given me. But
tell me how you managed to buy this beautiful hut."

" This hut was given to me yesterday by a goat
whose wool was of a beautiful blue colour."

"And where has the goat gone?" asked Pinocchio
with lively curiosity.

"I do not know."

"And when will it come back? . . ."

" It will never come back. It went away
yesterday in great grief and, bleating, it seemed to
say : 'Poor Pinocchio ... I shall never see him more
... by this time the Dog-fish must have devoured
him! . . .'"

" Did it really say that ? . . . Then it was she !
... it was she ! ... it was my dear little Fairy
. . ." exclaimed Pinocchio, crying and sobbing.

"When he had cried for some time he dried his eyes,
and prepared a comfortable bed of straw for Geppetto
to lie down upon. Then he asked the Cricket :

"Tell me, little Cricket, where can I find a
tumbler of milk for my poor papa ?"

" Three fields off from here there lives a gardener
called Giangio who keeps cows. Go to him and
you will get the milk you are in want of."

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 261

Pinocchio ran all the way to Giangio's house ; and
the gardener asked him :

" How much milk do you want ? "

" I want a tumblerful."

"A tumbler of milk costs a halfpenny. Begin
by giving me the halfpenny."

" I have not even a farthing," replied Pinocchio,
grieved and mortified.

" That is bad, puppet," answered the gardener.
" If you have not even a farthing, I have not even
a drop of milk."

"I must have patience!" said Pinocchio, and he
turned to go.

"Wait a little," said Giangio. " We can come to
an arrangement together. Will you undertake to turn
the pumping machine ? "

'' What is the pumping machine ? "

" It is a wooden pole which serves to draw up
the water from the cistern to water the vegetables."

" You can try me . . ."

"Well, then, if you will draw a hundred buckets
of water, I will give you in compensation a tumbler
of milk."

" It is a bargain."

Giango then led Pinocchio to the kitchen garden
and taught him how to turn the pumping machine.
Pinocchio immediately began to work ; but before
he had drawn up the hundred buckets of water the

262 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

perspiration was pouring from his head to his feet.
Never before had he undergone such fatigue.

"Up till now," said the gardener, "the labour of
turning the pumping machine was performed by my
little donkey ; but the poor animal is dying."

" Will you take me to see him? " said Pinocchio.

"Willingly."

When Pinocchio went into the stable he saw a
beautiful little donkey stretched on the straw,
worn out from hunger and overwork. After look-
ing at him earnestly he said to himself, much
troubled :

" I am sure I know this little donkey ! His face
is not new to me."

And bending over him he asked him in asinine
language :

"Who are you.?"

At this question the little donkey opened his dying
eyes, and answered in broken words in the same
language :

" I am . . . Can . . . die . . . wick . . ."

And having again closed his eyes he expired.

" Oh, poor Candlewick ! " said Pinocchio in a low
voice ; and taking a handful of straw he dried a tear
that was rolling down his face.

"Do you grieve for a donkey that cost you
nothing?" said the gardener. "What must it be
to me who bought him for ready money ? "

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 263

" I must tell you ... he was my friend ! "

" Your friend .? "

" One of my schoolfellows ! , . ."

"How.?" shouted Giangio, laughing loudly.
"How.? had you donkeys for schoolfellows .? ... I
can imagine what wonderful studies you must have
made ! . . ."

The puppet, who felt much mortified at these
words, did not answer; but taking his tumbler of
milk, still quite warm, he returned to the hut.

And from that day for more than five months he
continued to get up at daybreak every morning to
go and turn the pumping machine, to earn the
tumbler of milk that was of such benefit to his
father in his bad state of health. Nor was he
satisfied with this ; for during the time that he had
over he learnt to make hampers and baskets of
rushes, and with the money he obtained by selling
them he was able with great economy to provide for
all the daily expenses. Amongst other things he
constructed an elegant little wheel-chair, in which he
could take his father out on fine days to breathe a
mouthful of fresh air.

By his industry, ingenuity, and his anxiety to
work and to overcome dilliculties, he not only suc-
ceeded in maintaining his father, who continued
infirm, in comfort, but he also contrived to put aside
forty pence to buy himself a new coat.

264 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

One morning he said to his father :

" I am going to the neighbouring market to buy
myself a jacket, a cap, and a pair of shoes. When
I return," he added, laughing, "I shall be so well
dressed that you will take me for a fine gentleman."

And leaving the house he began to run merrily
and happily along. All at once he heard himself
called by name, and turning round he saw a big
Snail crawling out from the hedge.

"Do you not know me.'"' asked the Snail.

" It seems to me . . . and yet I am not sure . . ."

" Do you not remember the Snail who was lady's-
maid to the Fairy with blue hair ? Do you not
remember the time when I came downstairs to let
you in, and you were caught by your foot which
you had stuck through the house door .'' "

" I remember it all," shouted Pinocchio. "Tell
me quickly, my beautiful little Snail, where have you
left my good Fairy .? What is she doing ^ has she
forgiven me ? does she still remember me ^ does she
still wish me well ? is she far from here ? can I go and
see her.^"

To all these rapid, breathless questions the Snail
replied in her usual phlegmatic manner :

'• My dear Pinocchio, the poor Fairy is lying in
bed at the hospital ! . . ."

"At the hospital.? . . ."

" It is only too true. Overtaken by a thousand

P THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 265

misfortunes she has fallen seriously ill, and she has
not even enough to buy herself a mouthful of bread.''
I " Is it really so ? . . . Oh, what sorrow you have
given me! Oh, poor Fairy! poor Fairy! poor
Fairy ! ... If I had a million 1 would run and
carry it to her . . . but I have only forty pence . . .
here they are : I was going to buy a new coat.
Take them. Snail, and carry them at once to my
good Fairy."

" And your new coat ? . . ."

" What matters my new coat ? I would sell even
these rags that I have got on to be able to help
her. Go, Snail, and be quick; and in two days
return to this place, for I hope I shall then be able
to give you some more money. Up to this time 1
have worked to maintain my papa : from to-day I
will work five hours more that I may also maintain
my good mamma. Good-bye, Snail, I shall expect
you in two days."

The Snail, contrary to her usual habits, began to
run like a lizard in a hot August sun.

That evening Pinocchio, instead of going to bed at
ten o'clock, sat up till midnight had struck; and instead
of making eight baskets of rushes he made sixteen.

Then he went to bed and fell asleep. And
whilst he slept he thought that he saw the Fairy
smiling and beautiful, who, after having kissed him,
said to him :

266 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

" Well done, Pinocchio ! To reward you for
your good heart I will forgive you for all that is
past. Boys who minister tenderly to their parents,
and assist them in their misery and infirmities, are
deserving of great praise and aifection, even if they
cannot be cited as examples of obedience and good
behaviour. Try and do better in the future and
and you will be happy."

At this moment his dream ended, and Pinocchio
opened his eyes and awoke.

But imagine his astonishment when upon awaken-
ing he discovered that he was no longer a wooden
puppet, but that he had become instead a boy, like
all other boys. He gave a glance round and saw
that the straw walls of the hut had disappeared, and
that he was in a pretty little room furnished and
arranged with a simplicity that was almost elegance.
Jumping out of bed he found a new suit of clothes
ready for him, a new cap, and a pair of new leather
boots that fitted him beautifully.

He was hardly dressed when he naturally put his
hands in his pockets, and pulled out a little ivory
purse on which these words were written : " The
Fairy with blue hair returns the forty pence to her
dear Pinocchio, and thanks him for his good heart."
He opened the purse, and instead of forty copper
pennies he saw forty shining gold pieces fresh from
the mint.

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO 267

He then went and looked at himself in the glass,
and he thought he was some one else. For he no
longer saw the usual reflection of a wooden puppet ;
he was greeted instead by the image of a bright intel-
ligent boy with chestnut hair, blue eyes, and looking
as happy and joyful as if it were the Easter holidays.

In the midst of all these wonders succeeding each
other Pinocchio felt quite bewildered, and he could
not tell if he was really awake or if he was dream-
ing with his eyes open.

" Where can my papa be .'* " he exclaimed
suddenly, and going into the next room he found
old Geppetto quite well, lively, and in good humour,
just as he had been formerly. He had already
resumed his trade of wood-carving, and he was
designing a rich and beautiful frame of leaves,
flowers, and the heads of animals.

" Satisfy my curiosity, dear papa," said Pinocchio,
throwing his arms round his neck and covering
him with kisses; "how can this sudden change be
accounted for ? "

"This sudden change in our home is all your
doing," answered Geppetto.

"How my doing ^ "

"Because when boys who have behaved badly
turn over a new leaf and become good, they have
the power of bringing content and happiness to
their families."

268 THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

" And where has the old wooden Pinocchi(
hidden himself?"

"There he is," answered Geppetto, and h(
pointed to a big puppet leaning against a chair, witl
its head on one side, its arms dangling, and its leg
so crossed and bent that it was really a miracle tha
it remained standing.

Pinocchio turned and looked at it; and after he
had looked at it for a short time, he said to himsel:
with great complacency:

"How ridiculous I was when I was a puppet
and how glad I am that I have become a well
behaved little boy? . . ."

PQ^

4712

L4P513

1900

Lorenzini, Carlo
Pinocchio

PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE
CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET

ERINDALE COLLEGE LIBRARY

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Full text of "Pinocchio, the story of a puppet, by "C. Collodi""

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